CONGRESS  i  SENATE.  (Ex. Doc. 

it  Session.     V  •  •    (    No.  1S1. 


4  o  ( 


MESSAGE 


FROM  THE 


PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 


TRANSMITTING, 


In  response  to  Senate  resolution  of  Jung  5,  1882,  a  report  from  the  Sec- 
retary of  State  submitting  copies  of  the  full  correspondence  between  that 
Department  and  the  Hon.  William  Henry  Trescot,  special  envoy  extraor- 
dinary to  the  Republics  of  Peru,  Chili,  and  Bolivia,  and  Walker  Blai/ie, 
Third  Assistant  Secretary  of  State. 


JUNE  14, 1882. — Read  and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  and  ordered 

to  be  printed. 

-   | 


To  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  : 

I  transmit  herewith,  in  response  to  the  resolution  of  the  Senate  of  the 
5th  instant,  a  report  from  the  Secretary  of  State,  submitting  copies  of 
the  full  correspondence  between  the  Department  of  State  and  the  HOD. 
William  Henry  Trescot,  special  envoy  extraordinary  to  the  Republics 
of  Peru,  Chili,  and  Bolivia,  and  Walker  Elaine,  Third  Assistant  Secre- 
tary of  State. 

GHESTEE  A.  ARTHUR. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

Washington,  June  1 


To  the  President  : 

The  Secretary  of  State,  to  whom  was  referred  the  resolution  of  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  of  the  5th  instant,  requesting  the  Presi- 
dent, if  not  \n  his  judgment  incompatible  with  the  public  interest,  to 
transmit  to  the  Senate  copies  of  all  correspondence,  not  heretofore 
communicated,  between  the  Department  ofjlBtate  and  the  Hon.  Will- 
iam Henry  Trescot,  special  envoy  extraorc(|kary  to  the  Republics  of 
Peru,  Chili,  and  Bolivia,  and  Walker  Blaine,  Third  Assistant  Secretary 
of  State,  has  the  honor  to  lay  before  the  Preside^  the  full  correspond- 
ence in  response  to  that  resolution. 

FREDK.  T.  FRELINGHUYSEK 


>DEPAHTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  June  14,  1882. 


Hrl? 


2  AFFAIRS    IN   PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

COMMUNICATIONS  FROM  THE  SECEETAEY  OF  STATE  TO 

ME.  TEESCOT. 

• 

No.  1. 
Mr.  Blaine  to  Mr.  Trescot. 

[Telegram.] 

TRESCOT, 

Care  American  Consul,  Panama  : 

Kilpatrick  died  last  Sunday.  President  directs  that  Walker  shall 
act  as  charge  d'affaires  until  arrival  of  minister.  Instructions  mailed 
yesterday  to  Santiago.  Proceed  without  delay  on  Lackawanna.  If  Al- 
aska has  not  arrived  it  may  be  better  not  to  go  ashore  at  Callao.  Tel- 
egraph before  sailing. 

BLAINE. 
(Eeceived  at  Panama,  December  12,  1881.) 


No.  2. 
Mr.  Blaine  to  Mr.  Trescot. 

[Telegram.] 

TRESCOT, 

Care  American  Consul,  Panama : 
Have  you  received  my  dispatches  sent  Sunday. 

BLAINE. 

(Eeceived  at  Panama,  December  13,  1882.) 


No.  3. 
Mr.  Blaine  to  Mr.  Trescot. 

[Telegram.] 

TRESCOT, 

Care  American  Consul,  Aspimvall : 
Find  dispatches  at  Panama. 

BLAINE. 
(Eeceived  at  Panama,  December  13,  1882,  by  mail  from  Aspinwall.) 


No.  4. 

[Telegram.] 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Trescot. 

The  telegrams  sent  on  January  3  and  January  4, 1882,  by  Mr.  Freling- 
huysen to  Mr.  Trescot  have  already  been  published.  [See  also  Enclos- 
ures Nos.  4  and  5  in  Mr.  Trescot's  dispatch  No.  8.]  \  f 


AFFAIRS    IN   PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  3 

No.  5. 

L  Telegram.] 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Trescot.  . 

On  the  4th  of  February,  1882,  Mr.  Frelinghuysen  instructed  Mr. 
Trescot  by  telegram,  received  by  the  latter  February  6th,  that  the 
United  States  only  proposed  to  give  counsel  and  aid*  to  Chili  in  any 
negotiations  which  that  country  might  desire  to  make;  that  Chili  must 
herself  determine  whether  or  not  she  would  accept  such  aid,  but  that  in 
no  event  would  the  United  States  take  part  in  negotiations  based  upon 
the  surrender  of  Tarapaca,  and  a  further  indemnity  of  twenty  millions, 
as  such  a  demand  is  considered  exorbitant.  The  opportunity  had  ar- 
rived for  Chili  to  show  herself  just  and  magnanimous. 


No.  6. 

[Telegram.] 
Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Trescot. 

On  the  22d  of  February,  1882,  Mr.  Frelinghuysen  instructed  Mr. 
Trescot,  by  telegram  received  the  same  day,  that  the*President  had  been 
hoping  to  hear  further  from  Mr.  Trescot;  that  the  United  States  would 
assent  to  a  liberal  war  indemnity,  but  that  consent  was  not  to  be  given 
to  the  cession  of  Tarapaca  without  first  communicating  with  the  De- 
partment ;  that  should  Chili  persist  in  her  demand  for  such  cession,  the 
creditors  of  Peru  might  possibly  maintain  that  the  revenue  of  Tara- 
paca had  been  already  hypothecated,  and  that  the  President  desired  to 
urge  moderation  on  the  part  of  Chili. 


No.  7. 

[Telegram.] 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Trescot. 

On  the  1st  of  March,  1882,  the  Secretary  of  State  telegraphed  Mr. 
Trescot  that  the  President  preferred  that  for  the  present  himself  and 
Mr.  Elaine  should  remain  and  report  the  situation;  that  a  communica- 
tion of  the  condition  of  affairs  had  been  made  to  Congress,  and  that  the 
President  desired  that  no  opportunity  should  be  lost  to  carry  out  his 
views  as  indicated. 


No.  8. 

[Telegram.] 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Trescot. 

On  the  16th  of  March,  1882,  Mr.  Frelinghuysen  telegraphed  Mr. 
Trescot  (received  March  17)  that  his  suggestion  was  approved  and  that 
the  archives  of  the  legation  might  be  left  in  charge  of  the  consul  at 
Valparaiso. 


4  AFFAiRS   IN   PERU,    CHILI,    AND   BOLIVIA. 

No.  9. 

Mr.  rrdiiujhuysen  to  Mr.  Trescot. 

\.t  ai  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  March  18,  1882. 

SIK     I  inclose  for  your  information  a  copy  of  a  dispatch  (No.  337)  of 
thr  L'.-.tli  October  last  from  our  minister  at  Buenos  Ayres,  and  a  copy  of 
,  iiit'iiinnimUiin  which  accompanied   tin-  same,  of  action  taken  by  the 
Argentine  Government,  in  the  latter  part  of  1880  and  thereafter,  in  the 
direction  of  a  friendly  mediation  between  the  belligerent  governments 
on  the  west  coast  of  South  America  by  states  which,  in  consequence  of 
r  geographical  position,  would  be  able  to  tender  the  same  with  as 
littlr  d«-l:i.\  us  possible. 
I  um,  &c., 

FKED'K  T.  FEELIXGHUYSEK 


[Inclosure  1  to  No.  8.] 

• 

Mr.  Osborn  to  Mr.  Elaine. 

57.]  LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

JBUENOS  AYRES,  October  25,  1881.    (Received  November  29.) 

SIR  :  In  an  interview  with  Dr.  Irigoyen,  minister  for  foreign  affairs,  at  his  residence, 
on  the  1st  instant,  he  read  to  me  from  a  copy  of  a  memorandum  just  received  from  a 
personal  friend  in  Pern,  addressed  by  General  Hurlbut,  our  minister  at  Lima,  to  Ad- 
miral Lynch,  commanding  the  Chilian  forces  in  Peru,  and  at  the  same  time  he  informed 
in*-  that  he  had,  in  November  last,  addressed  a  dispatch  to  the  court  of  Brazil,  indi- 
cating the  same  policy  to  be  pursued  as  that  foreshadowed  by  Hurlbut's  memorandum, 
copies  of  which  dispatch  were  sent  to  the  Argentine  representatives  at  Washington 
and  London,  to  be  laid  before  those  two  governments- 

The  minister  now  informs  me  that  a  reply  has  just  been  received  from  Lord  Gran- 
ville,  approving  of  the  suggestions  made  or  policy  indicated,  and,  as  the  Argentine 
representative  did  not  leave  a  copy  with  the  Hon.  Secretary  of  State,  he  has  furnished 
me  with  a  memorandum  referring  to  the  matter,  and  also  with  an  official  translation 
of  the  same,  which  I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  herewith. 
I  have,  &.C., 

THOS.  O.  OSBORN. 


[Translation.] 
.      MEMORANDUM. 

A  dispatch  was  sent  by  this  department  under  date  of  November  9,  1880,  to  the  Ar- 
gentine minister  to  Brazil  signifying  to  him  that  after  the  unexpected  outcome  of  the 
DOble  mediation  offered  to  the  belligerents  of  the  Pacific  by  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment, it  deemed  it  expedient  to  renew  a  friendly  mediation  to  be  carried  out  by  such 
states  as  should,  on  account  of  their  geographical  position,  be  able  to  tender  it  with 
as  little  delay  as  possible.  In  accordance  with  these  views  the  minister  was  directed 
t..  l.i  ing  the  matter  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Brazilian  Government. 

indication  was  likewise  made  that,  should  the  suggestion  be  met  bv  the  approval 
Mid  gOTemment,  this  one  was  of  opinion  that  the  Cabinet  at  Washington  ou^ht,  to 
nade  acquainted  with  this  initiatory  step  in  case  that  Cabinet  should  be  inclined  to 
repeat  the  tender  of  good  omces  so  nobly  proffered  on  the  former  occasion 

lese  instructions  were  amplified  by  a  dispatch  under  date  of  the  10th  of  the  same 

ttb,  in  winch  the  Argentine  minister  was  informed  that  the  President  desired  that 

ference  the  minister  was  to  propose  and  base  on  the  previous  dispatch,  he 

"1,-ntly  enter  into  considerations  on  the  conduct  observed  by  the  allied  Jov- 

i  the  I  araguayan  war,  a  war  in  which  said  governments  did  not  think  that 

\  ic tors,  entitled  to  exact  any  cession  of  territory 

Hi  TO  reminded  at  the  same  time  that  it  was  advisable  that  he,  in  his  conversation 
ffitb  t!,,  nra/.han  foreign  secretary,  should  lay  stresson  the  fact  that  this  government 


AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  5 

has  no  further  interest  beyond  the  achievement  of  peace  ;  inasmuch  as  the  upshot  of 
the  campaign  will  in  no  wise  influence  the  solution  of  the  boundary  question 

The  Argentine  minister  to  Brazil  acknowledged  the  receipt  of  these  dispatches  and 
in  pursuance  thereof,  had  an  interview  with  the  foreign  secretary  at  which  the  latin 
manifested  his  desire  to  be  made  acquainted  with  the  opinion  of  the  Argentine  Gov- 
ernment as  to  the  modus  operandi  and  manner  of  making  the  mediation  an  effirnnt 
one.  He  added  that  he  likewise,  for  his  part,  accepted  the  idea  of  bringing  this  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  United  States  Government. 

Some  time  after,  on  December  14,  this  department  communicated  to  the  Argentine 
minister  to  Brazil  that  the  President  would  view  with  satisfaction  the  acceptation  by 
the  Brazilian  Government  of  the  proposals  he  had  made,  and  we  counseled  the  sug- 
gesting to  the  foreign  secretary  the  advisability  of  a  spontaneous  procedure  on  mlr 
part,  without  waiting  for  any  indication  from  the  interested  governments.  At  the 
same  time  we  authorized  said  minister  to  come  to  an  agreement  as  to  the  manner  of 
making  the  mediation  an  efficient  one. 

The  Argentiine  minister  confirmed  the  statements  of  his  previous  dispatch  as  regards 
the  acceptance  of  the  idea  of  mediation  by  the  Brazilian  Government,  adding  that  he 
believes  that  the  government  has  but  little  faith  in  the  matter,  on  account  of  the  ad- 
vanced stage  of  the  war.  He  also  stated  that  he  had  had  an  interview  with  the  for- 
eign secretary,  whom  he  asked  if  his  government  was  disposed  to  admit  the  joint 
mediation  establishing  the  following  principles  as  appertaining  to  American  interna- 
tional law  :  to  mitigate  the  horrors  of  war,  and  not  to  exercise  the  right  of  conquest  ? 

The  Brazilian  minister  objected  to  make  these  declarations  on  the  ground  that  they 
might  prove  a  difficulty  in  the  way  of  the  mediation. 

The  dispatch  winds  up  by  saying  that  he  is  satisfied  that  the  imperial  government 
is  only  disposed  to  tender  an  officious  mediation  on  the  condition  that  it  be  asked  for 
by  the  interested  parties. 

On  December  18,  this  department  forwarded  to  the  Argentine  minister  to  Brazil  the 
bases  on  which  it  considered  the  mediation  ought  to  be  offered.  They  are  as  follows  : 

I.     - 

This  government  is  of  opinion  that  after  appointing  their  extraordinary  repre- 
sentatives, these  ought  to  offer  the  Chilian  Government  the  joint  mediation,  and  that 
the  offer  should  be  also  made  to  the  allies,  setting  forth  the  friendly  motives  that  give 
rise  to  this  act  of  sincere  cordiality,  and  signifying  their  readiness  to  favor  by  every 
means  consonant  with  their  duty,  and  with  the  impartial  policy  of  their  governmenfs 
the  possibility  of  the  belligerents  being  able  to  bring  about  by  just  and  equitable  set- 
tlements the  end  of  the  war  that  is  dividing  them. 

If,  as  is  probable,  the  joint  mediation  is  accepted,  the  opportunity  would  have  ar- 
rived for  mediating  ministers  to  enter  upon  their  mission,  encouraging  a  meeting  of 
plenipotentiaries  of  the  belligerents  on  board  of  some  man-of-war  of  the  imperial 
navy,  or,  in  defect  of  this,  on  some  other  neutral  one. 

The  meeting  brought  about,  the  mediating  minister  might  open  and  preside  over 
the  conference,  whereat  they  would  solicit  proposals  for  peace,  and  have  them  dis- 
cussed ;  in  this  they  will  use  every  effort  to  bring  about  the  result  that  is  so  vehe- 
mently desired. 

They  will  favor  by  their  friendly  wishes  every  proposition  that  shall  be  condm 
the  end  aimed  at,  the  re-establishment  of  peace.     But  they  are  on  no  account  to  abet 
any  such  as  may  tend  to  segregate  territory  or  to  lower  the  rights  that  any  of  t 
three  belligerents  may  have  as  sovereign  owner. 

On  the  contrary,  should   any  such  propositions  be  advanced  (and,  as  i 
rejected)  by  any  of  the  belligerents,  the  mediators  are  bound  to  use  their  discree 
friendly  efforts  toward  their  being  substituted  by  others  that  do  not  imply  d 
tion  ot'sovereign  rights  nor  territorial  annexation. 

Besides  this  kind  of  proposals,  they  are  to  contribute  with  all  the  prudence  tl 
tion  calls  for  to  the  acceptance  of  such  as  may  be  submitted  as  conducive  1 

ftbThe  CMlfan  Government  in  its  circular  dispatch  to  foreign  governments  «jjemiily 
declares  that  it  only  aims  at  guarantees  of  peace  for  the  future,  and  mdetnmn< 
for  damages  and  expenses  incurred. 

After  sitting  forth  in  these  words  the  pretensions  of  the  Chilian  Governm 
mediators  can  base  their  good  offices  on  that  expose",  and  their  efforts  are 
guaranteeing  of  peace  by  suitable  associations  of  circumstances,  without  at  f 
ing  the  sovereign  rights  and  territorial  integrity  of  the  belli  ^ffinmntlv  rftrrvjTur 

ns  and  the  manner  of  effi 


nmnv  rftrrvTur 

As  regards  the  payment  of  indemnifications  and  the  manner  of  e 
them  out,  the  mediators  will  employ  all  such  means  as  may  be  suggos  e,     oh 
their  ability,  to  arrive  at  an  agreement  as  to  said  demands  whu-h  oadn 
of  a  desolating  war. 


(J  AFFAIRS   IN   PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

II. 

fthonld  the  belligerent  eovernments,  or  any  of  them,  refuse  to  attend  by  means  of 

-        .  ..    ,     conferences,  the   mediators  will  ask  fin-  suchbasea  or 

MvmCtiofitM  niiKl>'t  l,e  ,-onducive  to  a  solution,  and  these  they  will  submit  to  the 

d  thus  continue  negotiations. 

KrtXtanihniiM  follow  the  same  preceding  rules,  that  is  to  say, they  will  de- 

,  to  be  the  channel  f..r  exactions  of  territorial  cessions  which  would  be  tantamount 

eonaneat.  Should  anvsuch  pi  ..positions be  brought  forward  they  are  to  be  forthwith 

,.:,._  plated  bo  bring  about  the  lasting  peace  that  is  aimed  at 
In  the  event  of  some  one  of  the  belligerents  unfortunately  insisting  on  maintaining 
Mid  itroiMMtitiona  of  annexation  as  essential,  and  should  refuse  to  substitute  them,  the 
mediator*  will  declare  that  they  are  not  able  to  submit  them  and  that  they  prefer 
bringing  their  mission  to  an  end. 


III. 


If  as  is  not  probable,  the  mediation  should  not  be  admitted  by  some  of  the  belliger- 
ent^ the  mediators  will  signify  that  their  governments  believe  the  duty  fulfilled  which 
had  been  imposed  upon  them  by  the  reigning  spirit  of  humanity  in  this  century  and  by 
that  of  fraternity  which  ever  characterized  the  relations  between  the  states  of  America. 
That  they  deeply  regret  the  obstacles  they  have  met  with  and  which  they  submit  to 
.11  of  t  heir  governments  and  to  that  of  impartial  nations  who  will  judge 
e  ditlicnlties  and  of  the  responsibility  they  carry  with  them. 


IV. 

mid  the  belligerents  definitely  refuse  (which  would  not  seem  to  be  possible)  to 
put  forward  propositions  that  may  be  made  use  of  as  a  basis  for  discussion,  the  media- 
ni^ht  for  their  part  tender  some  such  as  the  following: 

Joint  payment  to  Chili  by  Peru  and  Bolivia  of  the  expenses  of  the  war,  the  amount 
of  which  would  be  lixed  by  joint  commissions. 

Restoration  of  goods  and  lands  taken  from  private  individuals. 

Indemnification  for  damages  caused. 

Guarantees  for  peace  and  the  payment  of  amounts  due. 

Submission  to  the  arbitration  of  some  impartial  power  of  all  preceding  questions, 
and  of  all  such  as  may  arise  in  connection  with  such  treaties  as  may  be  stipulated. 

On  January  17,  the  Argentine  minister  communicated  to  this  department  that,  ac- 
cording to  what  had  been  signified  to  him  by  the  managing  director  at  the  foreign 
office,  no  answer  had  up  to  then  been  given  to  his  dispatch  of  December  25,  as  the 
minister  had  intended  to  tender  his  resignation,  but  that,  as  the  circumstances  no 
longer  existed,  it  would  be  answered  as  soon  as  possible. 

<  )n  the  i»tb  of  April,  the  Argentine  minister  sent  a  dispatch  to  the  Brazilian  depart- 
ment for  iorei-n  atlairs,  and  informed  it,  that  this  government  had  directed  him  to 
renew  the  proposition  to  mediate  between  the  belligerents  and  that  the  basis  pre- 
viously indicated  as  the  same  that  the  Argentine  Government  again  submits. 

on,  under  date  of  July  17,  the  Argentine  minister  gave  notice,  that  he  had  re- 
ceived a  communication  from  the  foreign  secretary,  in  which  the  latter  declared  that, 
some  nhort  time  before  his  receipt  of  the  note  of  April  9,  the  news  had  come  from 
London  that  the  French,  English,  and  Italian  Governments,  at  the  request  of  that  of 

were  about  to  use  their  good  offices  for  the  re-establishment  of  peace. 
This  was  borne  out  by  the  answer  given  in  the  House  of  Lords  to  a  question  put  to 
the  government  by  Sir  Charles  Dilke,  under  secretary  of  state  for  foreign  affairs. 

;.i/ili;in  foreign  .secretary  added  that  a  complication  was  rising.     The  media- 
proposed  by  the  Argentine  Government  had  to  be  offered  to  the  three  belligerents 
•MM  be  met  by  that  of  the  three  European  powers  asked  for  by  one  of  the  allies 
as  it  would  seem,  without  the  assent  of  the  other. 

The  Imperial  government  was  obliged  to  await  information  to  throw  a  light  on  the 
procedure  of  the  three  powers  referred  to. 

It  now  knows  that  they  have  already  given  instructions  to  their  diplomatic  agents 
west  coast,  and  that  they  would  recognize  the  authority   of   Garcia  Calderon 
soon  M  ever  they  became  convinced  that  the  Chilian  Government  was  in  treatv 
w  it  h  mm.  . 

t  atlairs,  the  imperial  government  proposes,  in  answer  to  the 
illation  ol   a  joint  nature  made  by  the  Argentine  minister,  a  tender 

Qf  ^IQOQ  off] G4)A  W I  fchon  t  i  •  i  •  t  *     -  -  * 


0  the  conditions  of  peace,  and  this  offer  will  be  made 
Bolivia  alone,  if  Peru  had  accepted  European  intervention,  or  to 
all  of  the  three.  ,n  ease  that  intervention  had  not  been  accented. 


not  been  accepted. 


\, 


AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  7 

On  August  28,  this  department  addressed  the  Argentine  minister  and  manifested 
that  this  government  was  disposed  to  tend,  with  that  of  Brazil,  toward  the  acceptance 
of  the  good  offices  to  which  the  dispatch  of  the  15th  refers. 

He  was  authorized  to  agree  to  the  form  to  be  adopted  for  the  opening  steps,  and  was 
empowered  to  accept  the  indications  contained  in  the  dispatch  of  the  15th. 

He  is  recommended  to  draw,  as  far  as  possible,  the  basis  together  as  submitted  for 
the  good  offices,  previously  tendered  for  the  joint  mediation,  but  should  this  not  be 
possible,  he  may  accept  the  starting-point  proposed  by  Mr.  de  Souza. 

In  August  (31st),  1881,  the  Argentine  minister  informs  the  department  that  Mr. 
Caballero,  the  Bolivian  minister  to  Brazil,  had  signified  to  him  that  the  Bolivian 
government  not  only  accepts  the  offer  of  good  offices  in  its  own  name,  but  in  that  of 
the  dictator  of  Peru. 

BUENOS  AYRES, 
Foreign  Office,  September  8. 

A  true  translation  from  the  original  in  this  deparment. 

C.  A.  SHOOLBRED. 
OCTOBER  22,  1881. 


No.  10. 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Trescot. 

[Telegram.] 

On  the  18th  of  April,  1882,  Mr.  Frelinghuysen  informed  Mr.  Trescot 
that  his  last  telegram  could  not  be  interpreted,  and  requested  repetition 
thereof. 

(Received  in  Lima,  April  29,  1882.) 


No.  11. 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Trescot. 
[Telegram.] 

On  the  27th  of  April,  1882,  Mr.  Frelinghuysen  telegraphed  Mr.  Tres- 
cot that  it  was  intended  by  the  former  cable  of  March  16  to  give  per- 
mission to  return  to  himself  and  Mr.  Blaine,  and  that  they  might  return 
at  their  own  convenience. 

(This  telegram  was  received  in  Lima  on  May  6,  1882. 


COMMUNICATIONS    FROM    MR.  TRBSCOT    TO   THE    SECRE- 
TARY OF  STATE. 

No.  12. 
Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Blaine. 

[Telegram.] 

SPECIAL  MISSION, 
Pwiama,  December  12,  1881. 

BLAINE,  Washington: 

The  mail  brings  no  instructions  for  minister  to  Chili  and  minister  to 
Peru.    Have  you  sent  them  and  peace  invitations  1 

TREbCOl. 


g  AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

No.  13. 
Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  J.  G.  Elaine 

SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

I'tniama,  United  States  of  Colombia, 
Dec<n>!»  >•  1  L>,  1881.     (Received  December  27.) 
li.«ii.  .IAMKS  G.  BLAINK,  av..  a-t>.,  &c.: 

I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  of  our  arrival  at  this  place. 
i*  Axpmwal!  yesterday  by  special  train,  we  reached  Panama  in 
th«-  afternoon,  and  went   at    once  on  board  of  the  Lackawanna,  which 
\\ill  be  iva«l\  to  go  to  sea  to-morrow  morning. 

•  •ssary,  but  it  only  seems  proper  to  say  that  we  were 
( 'aptain  Wilson  with  cordiality,  and  every  possible  prepa- 
,.n  has'been  made  lor  our  comfort. 

1'here  is  of  course  no  in  formation  of  interest  in  connection  with  the 
objects  of  tin-  mission  to  communicate  from  this  point.  The  rumors  of 
occurrences  in  Peru  arc  almost  as  vague  and  contradictory  here  as  at 
home,  and  all  that  we  have  heard  goes  to  show  a  continued  condition 

MC« -rtai my  as  to  whether  there  is  any  government  in  Peru. 
I  inclose  tlii»  latest  issue  of  the  Daily  Star  and  Herald,  containing 
tin-  pnx-lamation  of  what  would  seem  to  be  a  sort  of  provincial  dicta- 
-hip  by  General  Careers,  and  both  in  Spanish  and  in  English  a  com- 
munication by  Mr.  Hurlbut  to  the  notables  of  Lima,  whoever  they  may 
be.     All  accounts  seem  to  agree  that  Pierola  has  abandoned  his  claims 
to  executive  power,  and  the  last  report  is  that  he  has  left  the  country. 
<  all  to  your  attention  that  the  mail  contained  no  communi- 
•  it  her  to  General  Hurlbut,  General  Kilpatrick,  or  Mr.  Adams, 
i  net i n  g  them  as  to  the  purpose  or  authority  of  the  special  mission! 
I  or  reasons  which  are  obvious  I  do  not  desire  to  submit  to  them  my 
own  instructions,  and  there  may  be  some  embarrassment  should  they, 
in  tin-  abeence  of  instructions,  decline  to  recognize  the  transfer  of  the 

: unions  to  the  special  mission. 

I    know  that   such  instructions  were  prepared,  and  I  am  confident 
th.it  they  were  signed  and  ready  for  transmission.    If  they  have  been 
'Monally  withheld  I  feel  very  sure  that  I  would  have^been  so  in- 
t"imed,  and  I  hope  that  you  will  agree  in  the  conclusion  to  which  I 
me,  that  it  is  my  duty  to  act  as  if  they  had  been  sent,  and,  if 
eccx.sary,  to  furnish  these  gentlemen  with  copies  of  such  portions  of 
11  iMMinctions  as  specify  the  duties  and  the  extent  of  the  au- 
thority confided  to  me. 

I''-!'  •  to  you,-  verbal  instructions,  that  I  should  take  charge 

mv.tations  to  the  Governments  of  Chili,  Peru,  and  Bolivia  to  be 

the  proposed  congresrtn  Washington,  and  deliver  them 

ectije  ^ovemments  at  such  time  as  the  circumstances  of 

""•'I>:"<-<1  negotiation  seemed  to  render  most  opportune,  I  beg 

'""..  ypn   that    the   mail  contains  no  such  communicatioAs,  and 

moeew  to  yon  without  suggestion  from  me  that  if  at  some  later 

:>nonsare  transmitted  to  the  ministers  at  Lima,  San- 

P«t£jsh^ 

might,  under  circumstances  by  no  means  improbable 
JTwhi1  I  7'."""  7'   ;" T;lss"" 'Mt  in  the  C0ndu^  of  the  speciaCLsW 

.      : ;  n  ci 'nt I v  """I  ±arg*L     A  1>eference  to  ^  instructions  will, 

«-ntl\  explain  my  meaning. 


\ 


AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  9 

I  consider  this  so  important  that  I  have  deemed  it  proper  to  telegraph 

you  the  fact  that  these  instructions  have  not  been  sent,  in  order  that 

by  the  next  mail  I  may  know  whether  they  have  been  intentionally 

kept  back,  or  that,  in  case  of  accidental  omission,  they  may  be  supplied. 

I  have  the  honor,  &c., 

WM.  HENEY  TEESCOT. 


No.  14. 

Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Elaine. 
[Telegram.  ] 

SPECIAL  MISSION, 
Panama,  December  13,  1881. 
ELAINE,  Washington: 
Telegrams  received.     Leave  to-day.    Callao  eight  days. 

TEESCOT. 


No.  15. 
Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  2.]  SPECIAL  MISSION,  UNITED  STATES, 

January  13,  1882.     (Eeceived  Feb.  14,  1882.) 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  I  reached  this  capital  on 
Saturday,  7th  January.  On  Monday  I  informed  Seiior  Balmaceda,  the 
secretary  for  foreign  affairs,  of  my  arrival,  and  was  received  in  public 
audience  by  the  President  at  1  o'clock. 

I  inclose  the  brief  speech  which  I  made  on  presenting  my  credentials, 
and  the  reply  of  his  excellency  the  President.  They  will  satisfy  you 
that  you  need  feel  no  apprehension  of  any  such  issue  as  you  suggested 
in  your  telegram,  which  was  received  by  me  the  day  of  my  arrival  at 
Valparaiso. 

As  the  mail  closes  at  6  o'clock,  I  am  compelled  to  be  very  brief,  when 
the  condition  of  affairs  really  requires  a  very  full  explanation. 

Postponing  to  next  mail  a  careful  appreciation  of  the  very  delicate 
and  difficult  character  of  the  question  with  which  it  has  been  made  my 
duty  to  deal,  I  can  only  say  now  that  I  found  here  a  state  of  feeling 
excited  far  beyond  anything  tha£ I  had  anticipated.  The  popular  im- 
pression was  that  I  was  the  bearer  of  a  positive  and  imperious  demand 
from  the  United  States  that  Chili  should  make  an  immediate  peace 
upon  such  terms  as  my  government  deemed  just  and  proper.  And 
while  the  Government  of  Chili  did  not  share  in  this  exaggerated  appre- 
hension, there  evidently  existed  in  official  circles  an  uneasy  uncertainty 
as  to  the  purpose  of  the  special  mission. 

I  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  remarks  which  I  made  at  the  recep- 
tion this  morning  have  relieved  all  apprehension  of  this  sort. 

1  am  afraid  that  it  will  be  more  difficult  to  correct  the  extravagant 
hope  which  exists  in  Peru  of  a  prompt,  and  even  forcible,  intervention 
of  the  United  States  to  secure  a  peace  without  cession  of  Peruvian 
territory. 


i  APPA1R8   IN   PERU,    CHILI,    AND   BOLIVIA. 

•|  I pinion  xv  hieh  I  think  I  am  justilird  in  forming  even  at  so  early  a 

,„  :  .t  rhili  ivallvdexjrrs  peaee  on  what  is  believed  to  be  fair  and 

•  •«*••»  condition*,  aiid  that   the  government  would  gladly  find  a  so- 
lution  which   would   relieve   it   from  a   prolonged  occupation  of  Peru. 
•  h.i\\  r.n-  I  will   IK-  al>le  to  surest  a  method  which  will  conciliate 
il  interest -an. I  xii.xeept  ihilit  ies  I  cannot  now  say.     Chili  needs  peace, 
but  tin-  ih-stniction  of  tin-  Caldrroii  government  .and  the  arrest  of  Cal- 
•  leron  hiins«>lt*  li  'lisorgani/ed  IVrti  that  there  is  no  government 

with  w  Inch  <  'hill  can  treat. 

I  .tin   x.itixii,.,!  that  the  more  friendly  an*  our  relations  with  Chili  the 

greater  will  he  our  opportunity  and  ability  to  serve  Peru.     And  I  can 

\  \\rll  eoneeive  that  the  present  perplexed  condition  of  the  relations 

\eeii   the  t \\ o  countries  may  render  the  friendly  intervention  of  the 

i  ii  »  i.le  to  both. 

•  jit ion  this  morning.  I  told  Senor  Balmaceda,  the  secre- 

a  Hairs,  that  if  he  would  accept  a  suggestion  I  would 

fore  opening  any  formal  diplomatic  correspondence,  we 

^h..nld  meet  informally  and  have  a  full  and  amicable  conversation.    As 

1  h.ni  i.  .IN, ,n  h»  anticipate,  he  accepted  the  suggestion  cordially,  and  I 

.im  to  inert  him  at  his  department  on  Monday  at  12  o'clock. 

I  inrloxr  alxi.  a   correspondence  between  Seuor  Balmaceda  and  my - 
Self,  which  \\ill  explain  itself. 

matter  \\as  perhaps  not  very  important,  but  under  existing  cir- 
••«•- ther,    might  have  been'aii    intention  which  it  was  my  duty 
to  notice,  and  I  trust  that  my  action  will  meet  your  approval. 

Jit.  perhaps,  to  add  that  my  reception  here,  both  public  and 
fe,  lias  hern  courteous  and  cordial. 

A- the  administration  removes  from  this  place  for  the  summer  to 
•  ind  the  adjoining  watering-place  of  Vina  del  Mar,  I  will,  of 
.  be  obliged   to  transfer  my  residence  there  when  they  move, 
they  will  probably  do  sometime  next  week.    I  have  inferred  from 
-i. mi  received  al  Panama,  informing  me  of  Mr.  Elaine's  appoint- 
i-l,.,lu,    d'ananoat  Santiago,  that  it  was  not  the  intention  of 
tment  to  modify  its  original  instructions,  and  that  I  would  be 
I  in!  I'"!  i'-M^/  "l  CMe  of  necessity'  to  Char8'e  him  with  instructions  to 
I  have,  &c., 

WM.  HENEY  TEESCOT. 


f  Inclosure  No.  1  in  No.  2.] 
Addrcu  of  Mr.  Tresoot  tojhe  President  of  Chili. 

•'^•iSd^wW^LwtwJ^  ^S^nrrences  have  seemed  to  disturb 

«ia  e.i  l    -  ,        I     t0  "larkfed  the  relati<>D8  of  the  two  Governments, 

w  ''•  ''          ' '   , .    ?,  or,L  rUei  °  T5  unfortuuate  misunderstanding 

'  '"''  «'H  .."t    ail^^reciatethen^,??*8^^  The  Govern- 

in  ...  th,.  i.ronfpt  «  .       i  i    *  66p  1Dterest  whi^  is  felt  by 

"T'.'-l.-:  ,.r,,|  I  ,r,1Ht    ,  „   Ml      ,;'   '.        ;  ;^let^;^on  of  a  war  between  kiuHred 

•  UQT6nuD*nlof  .1,^1  ,i,." |  s   ;ir>  Wl11   :,lls<)  teel  assured  that  in  no  effort 

«*»•«"  onld  there  eJst     ,    h  t     H       ?         °  t0  make  towards  80  haPP^  a 

'"""".  endanger  the  tnm      ?         ™S8™*  any  solution  which  would 

•liber  of  the  belligerent*  tni6  mterest>  or  wound  the  susceptibilities  of 


AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  11 

I  venture  to  hope  that  when  I  am  permitted  to  lay  before  your  excellency  the  views 
of  the  President  you  will  find  only  an  earnest  desire  for  the  arrival  of  that  time  when 
the  powers  now  at  war  will  resume  their  peaceful  and  prosperous  progress ;  when 
strengthening  themselves  they  will  strengthen  each  other  for  the  preservation  of  that 
system  of  free,  strong,  and  independent  republics  which,  founded  in  the  traditions  of 
the  past,  is  the  glory  of  the  present  and  the  security  of  the  future  in  both  Americas. 


[Inclosure  No.  2  in  No.  2.— Translation.] 
Reply'  of  the  President  of  Chili  to  Mr.  Trescot. 

Mr.  MINISTER  :  I  receive  the  credentials  which  you  place  in  my  hands  with  satisfac- 
tion, which  accredit  you  as  the  special  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plenipoten- 
tiary of  the  United  States. 

You  may  be  assured  that  in  the  Chilian  Government  you  will  find  a  sincere  and 
friendly  welcome,  which  will  be  a  merited  reply  to  the  loyalty  of  purpose  and  senti- 
ments with  which  personally,  and  in  obedience  to  your  instructions,  you  come 
animated. 

I  am  fully  confident  that  our  friendly  relations  with  the  United  States,  cultivated 
by  both  sides  with  the  constant  attention  that  is  becoming  to  two  honorable  govern- 
ments, will  be  maintained  unchanged. 

I  esteem  as  a  special  proof  of  the  sympathy  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
the  natural  interest  that  it  manifests  for  the  termination  of  a  war  which,  unprovoked 
by  Chili,  has  been  brought  to  a  final  end  by  means  of  vigorous  measures,  and  it  is  pleas- 
ing to  me  to  hear  from  you  that  any  effort  made  by  the  President  of  the  United  States 
for  such  a  purpose,  would  never  involve  an  intention  to  suggest  any  solution  that 
might  compromise  or  endanger  the  interests,  the  honor,  or  the  susceptibilities  of  the 
belligerents. 

Chili,  an  industrious  people,  that  owes  its  welfare  and  its  progress  to  peace,  and 
which,  beneath  its  shade,  has  secured  and  developed  the  democratic  principles  that  con- 
stitute the  immovable  basis  of  the  republic,  and  assure  it  in  the  future,  could  not  ae- 
cept,  after  the  war,  a  peace  that  did  not  comport  with  its  honor  or  fully  secure  its 
rights. 

I  do  not  doubt  but  that  your  mission  will  fully  correspond  with  the  elevated  views 
of  the  President  of  the  United  States.  It  is  also  to  be  expected,  on  account  of  your  abil- 
ities, as  well  as  of  your  honorable  antecedents.  You  will  meet  from  this  government 
every  facility  desirable,  and  I  do  not  doubt  but  that  you  will  find  a  cordial  and  pleas- 
ant welcome  from  Chilian  society. 


fin  closure  No.  3  in  No.  2.] 
Mr.  Trescot  to  Senor  Balmaceda. 

GRAN  HOTEL  YUGLES, 

Santiago  de  Chili,  January  12,  1882. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  the  llth  instant, 
informing  rne  that  his  excellency  the  President  of  the  Republic  of  Chili  has  been 
pleased  to  appoint  Friday,  13th  of  the  present  month,  at  one  o'clock  p.  m.,  as  the  time 
of  my  public  audience  for  the  purpose'of  presenting  the  letters  of  credence  of  which 
I  am  the  bearer. 

While  thanking  your  excellency  for  this  communication,  I  beg  that  you  will  allow 
me  to  call  your  attention  to  an  error  in  my  official  address,  which  I  am  satisfied  is  only 
a  clerical  oversight,  but  which  my  government  would,  I  am  sure,  expect  me  to  have 
corrected. 

I  am  styled  both  in  the  superscription  of  the  official  envelope  and  in  the  address  of 
the  note  itself,  "  Enviado  Extraordinarie  Especial  y  Ministro  Plenipotentiario  de  los 
Estados  de  Norte  America." 

The  style  and  title  of  the  United  States  are  "  The  United  States  of  America." 

Your  excellency's  familiarity  with  diplomatic  usage  will,  I  am  sure,  lead  you  to- 
appreciate  the  propriety  of  the  correction  which  I  have  the  honor  to  ask. 

Renewing  the  assurance  of  my  highest  consideration, 
I  am  your  excellency's  obedient  servant, 

WM.  HENRY  TRESCOT. 


12  AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

[Inclosure  No.  4  in  No.  2.] 
Reply  of  Senor  Balmaceda  to  Mr.  Trescot. 

REPUBLIC  OF  CHILI, 
OFFICE  OF  THE  MINISTER  OF  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS  AND  COLONIZATION, 

Santiago,  January  12, 1882. 

SIR:  I  have  just  received  a  note  which  your  excellency  did  me  the  honor  to  address 
nie  of  this  date,  for  the  purpose  of  asking  me  to  change  the  address  on  communications 
that  may  be  sent  to  you,  by  placing  "  The  United  States  of  America  "  in  place  of  the 
United  States  of  North  America. 

The  official  address  which  your  excellency  has  seen  on  the  dispatches  which  I  have 
had  the  pleasure  of  sending  to  you  is  the  same  as  has  always  been  used  by  this  office 
in  its  communications  to  the  legation  of  the  United  States.  However,  I  hasten  to 
make  a  note  of  your  remarks,  which  shall  be  attended  to  in  future. 

I  take  advantage  of  this  occasion  to  reiterate  to  your  excellency  the  expression  of 
my  sentiments  of  high  consideration,  with  which  I  remain  your  excellency's  attentive 
and  true  servant, 

BALMACEDA. 


No.  16. 

Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 
[Telegram.] 

SPECIAL  MISSION, 
Santiago,  January  23,  1882. 
FKELINGHUYSEN,  Washington  : 

»  After  several  confidential  interviews,  Chilian  minister  for  foreign 
affairs  disclaims  offending  by  the  removal  of  Oalderon.  Will  accept 
good  offices,  and  will  facilitate  conference  between  the  provisional  gov- 
ernment of  Peru  and  myself,  with  the  exception  of  Oalderon.  Peace  on 
the  following  conditions:  Absolute  cession  of  Tarapaca;  and  further, 
an  indemnity  of  twenty  millions,  payable  in  ten  years;  to  occupy  Arica 
positively  ten  years ;  the  indemnity  unpaid,  cession  to  Chili ;  appropria- 
tion of  guano  at  Lobos ;  Peru  refusing  no  further  interference  by  the 
Government  of  the  United  States. 

To  offer  good  offices  on  the  conditions  named  not  according  to  in- 
structions. 

I  have  to  suggest,  send  instructions.  Do  not  interfere  on  the  condi- 
tions named.  You  may  recognize  the  necessity  of  ceding  Tarapaca ;  if 
that  modification  cannot  be  obtained,  carry  out  your  instruction  num- 
bered two. 

TEESCOT. 


No.  17. 

Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 
[Telegram.] 

SPECIAL  MISSION, 
Santiago ,  January  25,  1882. 
FRELINGHUYSEN,  Washington  : 

Chilian  minister  for  foreign  affairs  desires  Kilpatrick's  dispatches 
and  instructions  should  not  be  published.     Our  next  mail  explains. 

TEESCOT. 


AFFAIRS    IN   PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  13 

No.  18. 

Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 
"So.  5.] 

SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA, 
Vina  del  Mar,  Chili,  January  27,  1882.     (Bec'd  March  7,  1882.) 

SIR  :  In  my  last  dispatch  I  informed  you  that  the  time  for  a  confi- 
dential conference  with  the  Chilian  secretary  for  foreign  aifairs  had 
been  appointed.  Since  then  I  have  had  three  conferences  with  Mr. 
Balmaceda,  in  which,  with  entire  frankness,  we  reviewed  the  existing 
condition  of  our  relations  in  reference  to  a  possible  settlement  of  the 
terms  of  peace  between  Chili  and  Peru  and  Bolivia.  The  result  of 
these  conferences  I  telegraphed  you  on  Monday  last,  January  23,  and 
I  did  so  not  only  because  instructions  were  necessary,  but  because  the 
secretary  distinctly  informed  me  that  certain  contemplated  military 
movements  in  Peru  were  suspended,  in  hopes  that  through  the  good 
offices  of  the  United  States  some  practical  solution  might  be  found. 
I  could  scarcely  expect  such  a  suspension  to  be  prolonged  through  the 
two  months  (and  perhaps  more)  which  would  be  occupied  in  the  trans- 
mission of  my  dispatch  and  the  receipt  of  a  reply.  And  I  think  it  is* 
evident  that  not  only  the  interests  of  the  belligerents  but  the  position 
of  the  United  States  require  a  prompt  decision  as  to  the  extent  to 
which  the  government  will  further  intervene  in  this  matter. 

I  think  the  conditions  imposed  by  Chili  are  hard.  I  am  not  at  all 
sure  that  any  representation  by  the  United  States  will  induce  Peru  to 
accept  them.  Chili  not  only  desires,  but  needs  peace.  The  occupa- 
tion of  Peru  is  a  very  heavy  drain  upon  her  population,  and  although 
its  immediate  expenses  have  so  far  been  borne  by  Peru,  the  resources 
of  Peru  cannot  long  stand  such  an  imposition,  and  the  cost  of  the  con- 
tinued occupation  and  the  further  military  operations  which  must  be 
undertaken  will  then  have  to  be  defrayed  by  Chili.  Peru  may  prefer 
to  wait  until  these  embarrassments  develop  rather  than  to  cede  terri- 
tory at  present,  but  I  ought  not  to  conceal  from  you  my  conviction, 
which  at  present  I  can  only  state  to  you  as  a  conclusion  without  the 
reasons,  that  Peru  is  powerless  to  help  herself.  There  is  no  govern- 
ment and  very  little  prospect  of  the  establishment  of  a  stable  one,  and 
her  power  of  military  resistance  to  the  Chilian  forces  anywhere  seems 
absolutely  null. 

Without  the  intervention  of  the  United  States  Chili  can,  and  will, 
compel  Peru  to  accept  any  terms  she  may  choose  to  impose,  or  she  will 
define  her  military  occupation  to  suit  her  plans  of  annexation  aftd  leave 
the  rest  of  Peru  to  anarchy. 

It  is  possible  that  the  terms  of  peace,  which  I  sent  you  by  telegram, 
may  be  modified  at  the  earnest  remonstrance  of  the  United  States.  I 
have  very  little  doubt,  not  only  from  what  I  learn  here,  but  from  recent 
dispatches  from  Mr.  Adams,  that  Bolivia  is  willing  to  make  peace  at  the 
cost  of  her  littoral  on  the  Pacific.  This,  with  the  cession  of  Tarapaca, 
is  ample  indemnity  and  security  for  Chili.  The  imposition  of  twenty 
millions  more  upon  Peru  as  indemnity  and  the  prolonged  occupation 
of  Arica  seem  to  me  to  be  very  extreme  conditions. 

But  the  cession  of  Tarapac^  is  unavoidable,  unless  the  United  States 
means  to  intervene  forcibly,  and  in  the  present  condition  of  Peru  such 
an  intervention  would  have  to  be  undertaken  by  the  United  States,  with 
no  assistance  from  Peru  herself  which  would  be  worth  considering. 

It  is  under  these  circumstances  that  I  suggested  that  I  should  be 


14  AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

allowed  to  recognize  the  necessity  of  that  cession  and  offer  the  good  offices 
of  the  United  States  if  the  other  terms  were  modified.  It  is  unquestion- 
ably important  to  Chili  to  obtain  a  peace,  and  the  good  offices  of  the 
United  States  will  relieve  the-  embarrassment  in  the  way  created  by 
the  arrest  of  Calderon  and  the  disorganized  condition  of  the  Peruvian 
Government.  The  government  of  Montero  or  anybody  else  which 
would  make  peace,  through  the  United  States,  would  be  recognized. 

But  it  is  difficult  so  say  how  far  the  recommendation  of  the  United 
States  would  now  be  received  by  any  government  in  Peru.  The  ac- 
tion of  Mr.  Hurlbut,  whether  intentional  or  not,  has  so  exaggerated 
the  Ix-lief  in  the  Peruvian  mind  of  the  certainty  and  efficacy  of  the  in- 
tervention of  the  United  States  to  prevent  any  cession  of  territory 
that  I  am  not  prepared  to  say  that  any  Peruvian  Government  will  be 
willing  or  strong  enough  to  accept  such  terms,  and  Chili  naturally  ex- 
pects that  if  she  accepts  our  good  offices  we  will,  upon  failure  of  a 
satisfactory  result,  refrain  from  any  further  interference. 

In  all  this  I  have  assumed  that  the  government  has  not  yet  consid- 
ered the  possibility  of  a  forcible  intervention  on  behalf  of  Peru,  and 
in  my  telegram  I  intended  to  convey  the  idea  that,  in.  my  opinion,  some 
modification  of  the  terms  may  yet  be  reached  which  would  allow  the 
United  States  to  recommend  their  adoption  to  Peru. 
I  have,  &c., 

WM.  HEKRY  TEESCOT. 


JSfo.  19. 
Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinyhuysen. 

No.  6.]  SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED 

STATES  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA, 
Vina  del  Mar,  Chili,  January  27,  1882.     (Eeceived  March  7,  1882.) 

SIR  :  On  Thursday.  January  26,  1882,  I  sent  you  a  telegram  request- 
ing that  neither  any  of  General  Kilpatrick's  dispatches  nor  my  instruc- 
tions be  published. 

The  reasons  for  the  telegram  are  these: 

In  the  first  interview  with  Mr.  Balmaceda,  I  called  his  attention  to 
certain  dispatches  from  Mr.  Christiancy,  Mr.  Osborn,  and  General  Kil- 
patrick,  informing  their  government  of  the  wish  and  purpose  of  the 
Chilian  Government  to  establish  and  strengthen  the  Calderon  govern- 
ment in  Peru. 

General  Kilpatrick's  dispatches  went  further,  and  assured  the  de- 
partment that  both  the  late  and  present  Chilian  Government  were  pre- 
pared to  conform  to  the  wishes  of  the  United  States,  give  the  Calde- 
ron government  a  cordial  support,  and  make  no  demand  for  cession  of 
territory  until  full  opportunity  had  been  given  to  Peru  to  pay  an  ade- 
quate indemnity. 

The  secretary  appeared  a  good  deal  surprised  when  these  dispatches 
were  read  and  said  that  while  he  was  unauthorized  to  say  what  had 
passed  between  General  Kilpatrick  and  the  late  government,  he  could 
certainly  say  that  no  communination  on  the  subject  had  ever  taken 
place  between  himself  and  General  Kilpatrick. 

Some  days  after  he  called  on  me,  and  said  that  he  would  like  to  ad- 
dress me  a  confidential  note  in  reference  to  Kilpatrick's  despatches,  but 

the  General  had  detailed  private  conversations  with  very  prominent 
and  distinguished  officials,  which  they  wished  to  contradict,  he  did 


AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  15 

not  desire  that  his  letter  should  be  published,  and  this  would  be  obliga- 
tory upon  him  if  these  dispatches  of  General  Kilpatrick  were  published 
in  the  United  States.  1  thought  his  suggestion  judicious,  for  the  rea- 
son that  I  had  had  the  opportunity  of  learning  somewhat  of  the  con- 
ference to  which  General  Kilpatrick  refers.  In  his  dispatch  he  alluded 
to  a  gentleman  of  great  consideration,  a  member  of  the  Chilian  Con- 
gress, a  very  distinguished  lawyer,  who  had  held  cabinet  position,  and 
who  has  been  remarkable  for  the  moderation  of  his  views  in  regard  to 
the  settlement  of  the  terms  of  peace.  He  attributes  to  this  gentleman 
a  large  part  in  the  conference  and  its  results.  The  gentleman  to  whom 
I  refer  assured  me  that  so  far  as  he  was  present  or  informed,  General  Kil- 
patrick's  statements  were  calculated  to  givQ  an  entirely  erroneous  im- 
pression of  what  had  occurred,  and  the  detail  which  he  gave  me  satis- 
fied me  that  the  officials  to  whom  General  Kilpatrick  referred  would 
contradict  his  most  positive  assertions. 

Mr.  Balmaceda  admitted  that  the  dispatch  was  sufficient  to  justify 
the  action  of  the  United  States,  and  in  correcting  it,  he  was  anxious  to 
avoid  an  unpleasant  issue  as  to  the  correctness  of  the  statements  of  one 
who  was  now  dead,  and  whose  long  and  painful  illness  was  a  sufficient 
explanation  of  any  misconception  of  facts  into  which  he  may  have  been 
led. 

As  the  papers  just  received  contained  the  publication  of  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  correspondence  with  our  ministers  at  Lima  and  Santiago, 
and  as  further  publication  seemed  to  be  expected,  he  expressed  a  wish 
that  I  would  telegraph.  I  included  my  instruction  in  the  request,  as  a 
large  portion  of  General  Kilpatrick's  dispatch  is  incorporated  in  it.  Of 
course,  the  secretary  did  not  ask  that  my  instructions  should  not  be 
published,  as  he  has  not  seen  them,  and  did  not  know  what  they  con- 
tained. But  to  make  the  two  requests  separately  would  have  increased 
considerably  and  unnecessarily  the  cost  of  the  telegram. 

In  this  connection,  while  I  do  not  doubt  that  a  controlling  necessity 
of  which  I  am  not  informed,  required  in  the  discretion  of  the  Depart- 
ment the  recent  publication  of  much  of  its  correspondence  with  the 
United  States  ministers  at  Lima  and  Santiago,  I  ought  to  say  that  the 
publication  has  not  helped  me. 

The  dispatches  have  all  been  republished  here,  with  the  editorial 
comments  of  the  home  papers,  and  the  impression  has  been  unfortu- 
nately made  that  the  administration  had  some  policy  which  had  excited 
strong  popular  opposition,  and  that  the  government  found  itself -com- 
pelled to  explain  away  what  was  deemed  objectionable.  The  inference 
drawn  from  this  is  that  I  am  not  empowered  to  take  anything  like  strong 
or  positive  action  in  reference  to  the  settlement  of  the  terms  of.  peace. 
I  need  not  add  that  some  uncertainty  on  the  part  of  the  Chilian  Gov- 
ernment, as  to  the  extent  to  which  the  United  States  were  prepared  to 
go,  until  in  the  natural  development  of  the  negotiation  it  was  officially 
informed,  would  not  have  been  without  its  influence  in  recommending  a 
reasonable  modification  of  the  terms. 
I  have.  &c.. 

WM.  HENKY  TEESCOT. 


16  AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

No.  20. 
Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinglmysen. 

No.  7.]  SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

IN  SOUTH  AMERICA, 
Vina  del  Mar,  January  27,  1882.     (Eeceived  March  7,  1882.) 

SIR  :  I  ask  to  call  your  attention  to  a  circumstance  which  may  create 
some  embarrassment  in  the  negotiation  here. 

When  I  was  about  leaving  Washington  the  Secretary  of  State  in- 
formed me  verbally  that  the  President  had  decided  to  invite  a  congress 
of  the  North  and  South  American  powers  to  meet  at  Washington,  and 
(as  I  understood)  that  the  invitations  to  the  Governments  of  Chili,  Peru, 
and  Bolivia  would  be  placed  in  my  hands  to  be  delivered  under  such 
circumstances  as  would  not  interfere  with  the  progress  of  the  present 
negotiation. 

These  invitations  have  been  sent  but  to  the  respective  ministers  ac- 
credited to  these  governments.  I  think  you  will  appreciate  the  impos- 
sibility of  tendering  such  an  invitation  to  Chili  until  the  result  of  the 
negotiation  has  ascertained  our  friendly  relation.  It  would  be  exceed- 
ingly unfortunate  if  either  Mr.  Hurlbut  or  Mr.  Adams  should  deem  it 
incumbent  upon  them  to  extend  this  invitation  to  Peru  and  Bolivia, 
while  it  was  not  extended  to  Chili.  I  have  written  to  both  of  these 
gentlemen,  asking  that  they  would  take  no  action  until  after  consulta- 
tion with  me.  While  I  hope  that  they  will  recognize  the  propriety  of 
this  request,  I  cannot  be  sure  that  they  will  regard  this  invitation  as 
belonging  to  the  duties  attached  to  the  special  mission,  and  they  may, 
perhaps,  regard  its  communication  as  belonging  to  the  ordinary  duties 
of  the  resident  legation,  with  which  I  am  not  authorized  to  interfere. 

I  have  not  deemed  it  judicious  to  make  any  reference  to  it  here,  for 
I  am  apprehensive  that  the  Chilian  Government  might  construe  it  into 
a  threat  of  an  appeal  against  its  proceedings,  especially  if  I  am  finally 
compelled  to  carry  out  instruction  No.  2. 

I  have  as  yet  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  Chilian  Government  is 
informed  of  the  invitation,  but  as  it  has  already  been  communicated  to 
some  of  the  governments,  it  cannot  be  long  before  it  is  generally  known. 
If  the  instructions  which  I  receive  in  reply  to  the  telegram  enable  me 
to  negotiate  a  modification  of  the  terms  of  peace  which  can  be  recom- 
mended to  Peru,  I  shall  have  no  hesitation  in  communicating  to  the 
Government  of  Chili  the  purpose  of  the  United  States. 

But  if,  unfortunately,  that  should  not  happen,  and  the  United  States 
should  be  compelled  to  withdraw  its  offer  of  good  offices,  it  will  be 
equally  difficult  to  communicate  the  invitation  or  to  withhold  it. 

In  the  first  case  the  expression  of  our  grave  disapprobation  of  the 
refusal  of  moderate  terms  of  peace  may  irritate  the  Chilian  Government 
to  a  point  that  may  lead  to  its  refusal,  putting  aside  the  apparent  in- 
consistency on  our  part  of  the  two  proceedings.  While  in  the  latter  case 
the  omission  of  Chili  will  be  so  marked  as  almost  to  necessitate  the 
withdrawal  of  the  Chilian  minister  from  Washington  and  the  conse- 
quent interruption  of  our  friendly  relations. 

I  cannot  expect  to  receive  instructions  on  this  subject  in  time  to  be 
relieved  from  the  responsibility  which  the  circumstances  may  impose 
upon  me,  but  I  trust  the  Department  will  appreciate  the  difficulty  in 
which  such  a  contingency  may  involve  me. 
I  have,  &c., 

WM.  HENEY  TEESCOT. 


AFFAIRS    IN   PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  17 

No.  21. 

Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 
[Telegram.] 

SPECIAL  MISSION, 
Santiago,  February  2,  1882. 
FRELINGKHUYSEN,  Washington  : 

Have,  no  reply  from  you  answering  my  telegram  of  twenty-third. 
Very  desirable. 

TEESCOT. 


No.  22. 
Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  8. 1  SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

IN  SOUTH  AMERICA, 
Vina  del  Mar,  Chili,  February  3,  1882.     (Eec'd  March  7,  1882.) 

SIR  :  Eeferring  to  my  dispatch,  numbered  seven,  I  have  to  inform 
you  that  after  mailing  it  I  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Hurlbut,  saying 
that  he  had  already  extended  the  invitation  of  the  President  to  the 
Government  of  Peru  to  attend  the  proposed  congress  in  Washington. 

This  action,  of  which  I  had  been  so  apprehensive,  rendered  it  neces- 
sary that  the  invitation  should  also  be  extended  to  Chili,  for  I  had  no 
doubt  that  the  fact  would  be  published  in  the  Lima  papers.  And  by 
the  last  mail  from  Lima,  I  find  that  not  only  the  fact  but  the  invitation 
in  full  has  been  published. 

1  therefore  wrote  to  Mr.  Adams,  at  La  Paz,  and  to  Mr.  Elaine,  who 
is  charge  deSaffaires  here,  to  say  that  I  desired  them  to  consider  my 
request  for  delay  in  the  presentation  of  the  invitation  as  now  withdrawn. 
These  letters,  with  one  to  Mr.  Hurlbut  in  reply  to  his  information,  will 
be  found  in  inclosures  numbered  1,  2,  and  3. 

As  an  interview  with  the  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs  had  been  ap- 
pointed for  Tuesday  last  (January  31),  Mr.  Elaine  accompanied  me,  in 
order  to  read  the  invitation  in  conformity  with  his  instructions. 

Our  interview  had  been  arranged  for  the  purpose  of  comparing  our 
respective  drafts  of  a  protocol  summarizing  the  substance  of  our  former 
confidential  conferences,  a  proceeding  to  which  the  Secretary  seemed 
to  attach  considerable  importance.  After  reading  over  Mr.  Balmaceda's 
draft  in  Spanish,  and  receiving  a  copy  for  more  careful  consideration, 
I  explained  to  him  the  purpose  of  Mr.  Elaine's  visit.  To  rny  great  sur- 
prise, he  expressed  the  wish  that  Mr.  Elaine  would  not  read  the  com- 
munication, and  then,  turning  to  me,  he  said,  "It  is  useless.  Your 
government  has  withdrawn  the  invitation."  Seeing,  I  suppose,  an  ex- 
pression of  astonishment,  which  I  did  not  pretend  to  conceal,  he  added, 
"Your  own  instructions  have  been  changed.  Your  instructions  from 
Mr.  Elaine  have  been  published,  and  others  are  on  their  way  to  you 
modifying  your  original  instructions  in  very  important  particulars.  The 
whole  question  about  Oalderon  is  out  of  the  way,  and  you  are  told  to  be 
entirely  neutral." 

S.  Ex.  181 2 


18  AFFAIRS    IN   PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

I  replied,  "I  do  not  understand  that  there  is  any  such  thing  as  a 
Galderon  question  between  us,"  and  then  said,  "  Do  you  mean,  Mr. 
Secretary,  that  both  my  original  instructions  and  the  instructions  from 
the  present  administration  are  published?" 

He  said,"  Yes,  before  you  ha vre received  them  I  have  a  telegram ;  not 
in  cipher,  but  open,"  to  which  I  replied  that  I  supposed  so,  because  I 
could  not  see  the  use  of  a  cipher  dispatch  in  referring  to  papers  already 
published. 

He  added,  "  Yes,  they  have  been  published,  and  will  be  soon  pub- 
lished here  in  La  Patria"  (a  newspaper).  He  then  went  out  of  the  room 
and  returned  with  a  telegram  which,  he  said,  had  come  from  Paris  only 
two  days  before,  and  of  which  he  read  me  the  first  line,  which,  as  I 
recollect,  was,  "  The  Blaine-Trescot  instruction  has  been  published," 
and  then  paused,  smiling  and  looking  over  the  telegram,  as  if  he  were  un- 
certain whether  he  should  communicate  the  rest.  I  said,  u  As  you  say 
that  all  this  is  confidential,  don't  make  a  half  confidence  of  it.  If  I  am 
to  receive  my  instructions  through  you  let  me  know  them  in  full."  He 
smiled,  shook  his  head,  and  folded  up  the  telegram,  saying,  u  This, 
however,  will  not  interrupt  our  negotiation,"  and  then  proceeded,  at 
some  length,  to  state  why  and  to  explain  what  he  considered  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  condition  of  things  under  the  new  instructions. 

I  said  to  him,  "That  may  all  be  so,  Mr.  Secretary,  but  I  think  that  a 
diplomatist  of  ordinary  experience  would  conclude,  when  he  learns  that 
his  instructions  have  been  communicated  to  the  government  with  which 
he  is  negotiating,  before  he  receives  them  himself,  that  it  is  time  for 
him  to  be  silent  until  he  does  receive  them.  I  think  there  must  be 
some  mistake  about  all  this,  but  at  any  rate  I  must  decline  to  say  a 
word  more  until  I  learn  from  my  government  what  it  has  done  and  what 
it  means  me  to  do." 

He  said  that  he  hoped  that  T  would  receive  my  instructions  very  soon ; 
that  the  position  was  strained  and  could  not  be  maintained  for  an  in- 
definite time,  that  is,  Chili  could  not  wait  much  longer  for  the  United 
States  to  decide  what  action  it  would  take,  and  then,  for  the  first  time 
in  our  conferences,  his  manner  became  excited  and  his  language  some- 
what too  demonstrative.  "  Since  you  have  been  here,"  he  added,  "  two 
occurrences  have  taken  place  which  I  am  sure  are  disagreeable  to  you 
as  they  are  to  Chili.  Mr.  Hurlbut  has  refused  to  consent  to  the  export 
of  certain  goods  from  the  blockaded  port  of  Mollendo,  unless  we  will 
consent  to  the  import  of  coal,  an  article  contraband  of  war,  for  the  use 
of  the  railroad,  and  although  we  have  a  right  to  disregard  his  refusal, 
we  have  not  done  so.  And  secondly,  Mr.  Adams,  in  Bolivia,  has  ad- 
dressed a  letter  to  the  government  at  La  Paz,  advising  themof  your 
mission,  and  endeavoring  to  induce  them  not  to  make  a  separate  peace 
before  Peru  has  effected  some  arrangement,  and  I  do  not  know  how  long 
Chili  can  bear  such  interference." 

I  said,  "  Mr.  Secretary,  the  facts  which  you  state  are  grave,  so  grave 
that  even  in  the  most  confidential  conversation,  I  will  not  express  an 
opinion,  unless  you  communicate  them  to  me  officially  ;  then  I  will  meet 
the  questions  you  raise." 

He  said,  "  1  have  no  intention  of  doing  so ;  I  did  not  even  intend  to 
draw  a  confidential  answer  from  you." 

There  the  interview  ended. 

The  facts  of  Mr.  Hurlbut's  action,  as  I  have  heard  them,  are  these : 
At  the  blockaded  port  of  Mollendo,  on  the  Peruvian  coast,  there  has 
been  a  large  accumulation  of  produce  waiting  for  exportation.  An  ap- 
plication was  made  by  Mr.  Adams,  without  consultation  with  Mr.  Hurl- 


AFFAIRS    IN    PE3U,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  19 

but  to  the  Chilian  authorities  in  Lima  for  license  to  certain  mercantile 
firms,  German,  I  believe,  to  take  out  their  goods.  Fearing  that  such 
permission  might  be  considered  as  an  abandonment  of  the  blockade,  the 
Chilian  authorities  asked  the  consent  of  the  diplomatic  corps  in  Lima 
to  the  issue  of  the  license.  Mr.  Hurlbut  replied  that  the  only  American 
interest  in  Mollendo  was  the  railroad  from  Mollendo  to  Puno,  and  if 
that  corporation  were  allowed  to  import  the  coal  and  supplies  necessary 
for  its  wants  he  would  consent. 

You  will  observe  that  these  facts,  if  correct,  furnish  ground  for  a  very 
different  estimate  of  Mr.  Hurlbut's  action  than  that  made  by  the  Secre- 
tary for  Foreign  Affairs.  But  as  I  had  no  official  information,  either 
from  Mr.  Hurlbut  or  from  the  Chilian  Government,  I  deemed  it  injudi- 
cious to  enter  upon  any  confidential  discussion  of  the  subject. 

As  to  Mr.  Adams  there  has  been  a  general  impression  here  that 
Bolivia  had  consented  or  would  consent  to  a  separate  peace  with  Chili, 
by  which,  in  exchange  for  her  littoral  territory  upon  the  Pacific,  she 
would  be  indemnified  by  some  cession  of  Peruvian  territory.  When  Mr. 
Adams  returned  to  La  Paz  he  communicated  the  purpose  of  the  special 
mission  to  the  government,  and  did,  I  believe,  succeed  in  inducing  them 
to  suspend  any  such  action  until  it  could  be  ascertained  if  the  good 
offices  of  the  United  States  could  effect  a  general  and  satisfactory  solu- 
tion. In  this  I  conceive  that  Mr.  Adams  was  only  acting  in  the  line  of 
his  duty,  but  I  did  not  deem  it  proper  to  discuss  it  in  a  confidential  or 
informal  way,  for  reasons  which  I  think  will  be  obvious  to  you. 

Having  thus  given  you  a  concise  account  of  the  interview,  you  will 
allow  me  to  express  the  hope  that  my  conduct  will  be  approved.  My 
original  instructions  were  in  the  alternative,  and  if  I  failed  to  obtain 
such  a  settlement  as  the  President  deemed  he  had  a  right  to  expect,  I  was 
directed  to  take  certain  action,  which  could  not  have  been  agreeable  to 
the  Chilian  Government.  I  could  not  suppose  that  such  an  instruction 
would  be  made  public  while  I  was  endeavoring  to  secure,  and  not  with- 
out some  hope  of  success,  the  amicable  solution  of  this  delicate  and 
difficult  question.  Still  less  could  I  believe  that  if  my  original  instruc- 
tions had  been  seriously  modified  any  communication  of  such  change 
would  have  been  made  to  the  public,  or  even  confidentially  to  the  Chilian 
Government,  before  I  could  possibly  have  received  it.  I  could  not  ad- 
mit, what  the  Secretary's  conversation  clearly  implied,  that  I  did  not 
represent  the  wishes  or  intention  of  my  government,  and  that  he  was 
better  instructed  than  myself  as  to  the  purposes  of  my  mission. 

But  as  his  language  and  action  were  evidently  based  upon  his  con- 
fident knowledge  of  these  supposed  instructions,  any  further  conference- 
wit  h  him  was  useless  until  I  heard  from  the  Department. 

As  both  the  telegram,  which  I  received  upon  my  arrival  at  Valpa- 
raiso, and  that  of  the  10th  of  January,  which  reached  me  only  on  the 
31st  ultimo,  the  translations  of  which  are  herewith  inclosed,  indicated 
the  propriety  of  very  great  caution  in  the  execution  of  my  original 
instructions,  and  as  my  telegram  of  January  23,  stating  the  terms 
upon  which  Chili  would  accept  the  good  offices  of  the  United  States, 
and  a  reply  to  which  was  absolutely  necessary  for  any  further  negotia- 
tion, had  not  yet  been  answered,  I  have  determined  to  do  nothing  what- 
ever until  the  receipt  of  instructions  from  the  government. 
I  have,  &c., 

WM.  HENEY  TEESCOT. 


20  AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

[Inclosure  1  in  No.  8.] 
Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Adams. 

SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA, 

Vina  del  Mar  CMli,  January  30,  1882. 

SIR:  In  iny  last  communication,  transmitting  the  dispatches  which  had  been  inter" 
cepted,  I  called  your  attention  to  that  one  in  which  you  were  instructed  to  convey  to 
the  Government  of  Bolivia  the  inviiation  from' the  President  of  the  United  States  to 
that  government  to  send  representatives  to  the  proposed  Peace  Congress  at  Washing- 
ton. 

In  doing  so,  I  asked  you  to  suspend  action  upon  this  instruction  until  you  heard  further 
from  me  on  the  subject.  In  the  mean  time  I  have  been  informed  by  Mr.  Hurlbut,  the 
minister  of  the  United  States  at  Lima,  that  he  received  similar  instructions,  and  has 
already  communicated  them  to  the  Government  of  Peru.  He  does  not  say  to  whom  he 
has  communicated  them,  as  the  representative  of  that  government. 

You  will  understand  that  however  inopportune  I  may  consider  this  communication 
of  Mr.  Hurlbut,  it  renders  necessary  the  communication  of  the  invitation  to  the  other 
powers. 

You  will  therefore  consider  the  request  for  delay  which  I  made  you,  as  now  with- 
drawn. 

I  beg  to  acknowledge  your  communication  of  January  the  12th,  with  its  inclosure. 
I  am  waiting  in  hourly  expectation  of  telegraphic  instruction  from  the  Department, 
upon  the  receipt  of  which  I  will  write  you  again. 
I  am,  &c., 

W.  H.  TRESCOT. 


[Inclosure  2  in  No.  8.] 
Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Walker  Elaine. 

SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA, 

Vina  del  Mar,  Chili.  January  30,  1882. 

SIR  :  The  reasons  which  induced  me  to  ask  you  to  withhold  for  the  present  the  invi- 
tation from  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  the  Government  of  Chili  to  take  part 
in  the  proposed  Peace  Congress  at  Washington  are  known  to  you. 

The  dispatches  which  I  have  addressed  to  the  department  upon  this  subject  have 
also  l>eeii  communicated  to  you,  and  you  are  aware  that  a  similar  request  was  made  of 
Mr.  Hurlbut,  at  Lima,  and  Mr.  Adams,  at  La  Paz. 

I  have  received  from  Mr.  Hurlbut  a  communication  under  date  of  January  18,  in 
which  he  informs  me  that  he  has  already  communicated  this  invitation  to  the  Peruvian 
Government. 

However  inopportune  I  may  consider  this  communicn4ion,  it  renders  the  delivery  of 
the  invitation  to  the  Chilian  Government  at  once  absolutely  necessary. 
My  request  that  the  invitation  be  withheld  is  therefore  now  withdrawn. 
I  have  written  to  Mr.  Adams  to  the  same  effect,  and  inclose  you  copies  of  my  com- 
munication to  Mr.  Hurlbut  and  myself. 
I  am,  &c., 

W.  H.  TRESCOT. 


[Inclosure  No.  3  in  No.  8.] 
Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Hurlbut. 

SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA, 

Vina  del  Mar,  Chili,  January  30,  1882. 

SIR:  I  have  to  acknowledge  your  communication  of  January  18,  in  which  you  in- 
form me  that  you  have  received  and  communicated  to  the  Peruvian  Government  the 
invitation  from  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  the  proposed  Peace  Congress  in 
Washington. 

The  circumstances  under  which  I  asked  that  you  would  suspend  action  upon  this  in- 
struction until  after  consultation  with  me  were  these : 

When  I  was  about  leaving  Washington  I  was  informed  by  the  Secretary  that  such 
an  invitation  would  be  issued,  indeed  that  it  had  already  been  sent  to  Mexico  and  Gua- 
temala. I  understood  that  the  invitations  to  Chili,  Peru,  and  Bolivia  were  to  be  sen} 
through  me  to  be  delivered  as  the  circumstances  of  the  anticipated  negotiation  seemed 
to  render  opportune. 


AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  21 

Not  finding  any  such  instruction,  I  telegraphed  and  wrote  from  Panama,  saying  in 
my  dispatch  of  December  12,  "I  beg  to  inform  you  that  the  mail  contains  no  such  com- 
munication, and  it  will  occur  to  you  without  suggestion  from  me  that  if  at  some  later 
date  the^e  invitations  are  transmitted  to  the  ministers  at  Lima,  Santiago,  and  La  Paz 
they  should  be  instructed  not  to  present  them  without  my  knowledge  and  approval. 
Their  delay  might,  under  circumstances  by  no  means  improbable,  cause  very  serious 
embarrassment  in  the  conduct  of  the  special  mission  with  which  I  have  been  charged. 
A  reference  to  my  instructions  will,  I  think,  sufficiently  explain  my  meaning." 

The  difficulty  which  I  anticipated  must,  I  think,  have  occurred  to  you. 

I  could  not  with  any  fitness  extend  this  invitation  to  the  Chilian  Government  until 
I  had  ascertained  what  were  the  relations  between  us.  If  the  negotiations  should  ter- 
minate in  failure,  disturbing  the  amicable  relations  between  us,  the  invitation  would 
be  either  offensive  or  idle ;  Chili  might',  if  irritated  by  the  position  of  the  United 
States  as  defined  in  my  instruction,  construe  it  to  mean  an  appeal  to  the  public  opin- 
ion of  the  American  republics  against  her.  But  still  more  important  was  it  that  this, 
invitation  should  not  be  communicated  to  Peru  and  Bolivia  without  at  the  same  time 
being  communicated  to  Chili. 

My  hope  then- fore  was  that  Mr.  Adams  and  yourself  would  wait  until  the  time  came 
when  the  invitation  could  be  properly  extended  to  Chili.  I  thought  it  not  improba- 
ble that  you  would  consider  the  instructions  sent  you  in  reference  to  the  special  mis- 
sion, as  sufficiently  indicating  that  all  questions  bearing  upon  this  very  delicate  and 
difficult  negotiation  were  to  be  left  to  my  discretion. 

But  if  your  instructions  did  not  in  your  opinion  bear  this  construction,  I  felt  sure 
that  you  would,  at  my  request,  co-operate  with  me  in  such  a  line  of  conduct  as,  in  my 
judgment,  seemed  necessary  here.  I  can  only  regret  therefore  that  my  request  reached 
you  too  late,  and  after  you  had  carried  out  your  instructions  as  you  understood  them. 

The  communication  of  the  invitation  to  Peru  of  course  now  renders  it  absolutely 
necessary  to  extend  the  invitation  to  Chili  at  once,  and  I  have  so  informed  Mr.  Elaine 
to  whom,  as  the  successor  of  General  Kilpatrick,  the  invitation  is  intrusted. 

I  have  also  written  to  Mr.  Adams  that  he  will  consider  my  request  of  delay  on  his 
part  as  now  withdrawn. 
1  am.  &c., 

W.  H.  TRESCOT. 


(Inclosure  No.  4  in  No.  8.— Telegram.    Received  January  4,  1882.] 
Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Trescot. 

WASHINGTON,  January  4,  1882. 

Exert  pacific  influence.     Avoid  any  issue  leading  to  your  withdrawal  from  Chili. 

FRELINGHUYSEN. 


[Incloaure  5  in  No.  8.    Telegram  received  by  mail  January  31,  1882.] 
Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Consul  at  Panama. 

Mail  following  to  Trescot: 

President  seeks  to  extend  friendly  offer,  impartially  to  both  republics.  Exert  pacific 
influence.  Avoid  issue  leading  to  offense.  The  Calderon  affair  and  its  surroundings 
can  be  attended  to  here  when  you  come  home.  We  prefer  chat  you  do  not  return  by 
Buenos  Ayres. 


No.  23. 
Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  10.1  SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

IN  SOUTH  AMERICA, 

Vina  del  Mar,  Chili,  February  3,  1882.     (Received  March  7.) 
SIR:  Referring  to  my  dispatch  No.  6,  January  24,  I  have  the  honor 
to  inclose  copies  of  the  confidential  letter  of  Mr.  Balmaceda,  the  Secre- 
tary for  Foreign  Affairs,  and  my  reply  thereto. 

C'?  WM.  HENRY  TRESCOT. 


22  AFFAIRS    IN   PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

[Inclosure  1  in  No.  10. — Translation.] 
Senor  Balmaceda  to  Mr.  Trescot. 

[Confidential.]  REPUBLIC  OF  CHILI,  MINISTRY  OF 

FOREIGN  AFFAIRS  AND  COLONIZATION, 

Vina  del  Mar,  January  27,  1882. 

SIR  :  In  the  confidential  conference  that  we  had  in  the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs 
in  Santiago,  on  the  16th  of  the  present  month,  you  made  known  to  me  the  text  of  the 
official  communication  which  Mr.  Kilpatrick,  the  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  United 
States  in  Chili,  addressed  to  his  government  under  date  of  August  15,  last  year. 
The  moment  I  heard  it  read  I  observgd  to  you  that  it  contained  serious  errors  and 
grave  inaccuracies,  asking  you  for  a  copy  of  it.  You  had  the  kindness  to  send  it  to  me 
on  the  17th  day  of  the  present  month  of  January,  with  a  confidential  letter  in  which 
you  copy  for  me  a  part  of  another  official  communication  addressed  by  Mr.  Kilpatrick 
to  his  government  on  the  2d  of  December,  last  year. 

ID  the  confidential  conference  that  we  had  on  the  19th  of  this  month,  in  the  same 
Department  of  Foreign  Affairs  in*  Santiago,  I  pointed  out  to  you  the  errors  of  fact  and 
inaccuracies  of  appreciation  which  the  said  dispatches  of  Mr.  Kilpatrick  to  his  govern- 
ment of  the  15th  of  August  and  the  2d  of  December  contained. 

I  think  proper,  considering  the  delicate  diplomatic  situation  of  the  two  governments, 
to  put  into  writing  the  verbal  declarations  made  to  you  by  the  undersigned  in  the  two 
conferences  referred  to. 

With  regard  to  the  communication  of  the  15th  of  August,  I  told  you  that  the  present 
President  of  the  Republic.  Mr.  Santa  Maria,  and  Mr.  Joseph  Francis  Vergara,  the  min- 
ister of  war  and  navy,  on  the  15rh  of  August,  1881,  and  now  minister  of  the  interior, 
had  never  spoken  to  Mr.  Kilpatrick  about  the  war  on  the  Pacific,  nor  about  the  in- 
structions of  Mr.  Elaine,  nor  about  the  conditions  of  peace,  nor  had  ever  made,  as  it 
is  natural  to  understand,  a  promise  of  any  kind  to  Mr.  Kilpatrick  ;  that  my  honora- 
ble predecessor,  Mr.  Valderrama,  and  Messieurs  George  Huneens  and  Luis  Aldunate, 
having  met  together  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Kilpatrick,  to  whom  he  wished  to  make  known 
his  instructions,  Mr.  Huneeus  confined  himself  to  reading  and  translating  them,  with- 
out either  Mr.  Valderrama  or  Mr.  Huneens  or  Mr.  Aldunate  giving  or  pronouncing  any 
opinion  about  them  ;  that  Mr.  Kilpatrick,  having  spoken  to  Mr.  Alduuate,  before  he 
was  secretary  of  the  treasury,  about  the  advantage  of  Chili,  bearing  in  mind  the 
wishes  of  his  government  with  regard  to  the  not  annexing  of  Tarapaca  by  means  of  a 
legislative  act  only,  but  rather  by  the  natural  consent  of  a  definite  treaty  of  peace,  Mr. 
Aidunate  stated  to  him  that  it  was  an  idoa  worthy  of  being  taken  into  consideration 
which  reply  Mr.  Aldunate  personally  informed  me  of  about  the  time  the  said  conver- 
sation took  place;  and  finally  that  the  ideas  that  constitute  the  basis  of  the  purposes 
disclosed  in  the  instructions  of  Mr.  Elaine  had  not  been  accepted,  as  is  alleged,  by  any 
ot  the  persons  referred  to  in  the  dispatch  of  August  15,  1881. 

In  reference  to  the  note  of  the  2d  of  December,  1881, 1  told  you  that  Mr.  Kilpatrick 
had  spoken  to  me  three  times  before  my  taking  charge  of  the  office  of  Secretary  of 
Foreign  Affairs  about  the  instructions  of  Mr.  Elaine,  and  that  on  the  three  occasions  I  an- 
swered Mr.  Kilpatrick  that  I  had  formed  no  opinion  about  them,  leaving  it  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  Mr.  Pinto,  or  that  of  Mr.  Santa  Maria,  about  to  be  inaugurated,  to  pronounce 
an  opinion  about  any  matter  of  exclusive  jurisdiction  of  public  power;  that  after  the 
18th  day  of  September,  1881,  the  day  on  which  I  was  nam^d  secretary  of  foreign  af- 
fairs, although  I  saw  Mr,  Kilpatrick  several  times,  then  very  sick  and  almost  always 
in  his  bed,  I  did  not  speak  with  him  about  the  instructions,  or  the  wishes  of  his  gov- 
ernment, but  in  reference  to  the  note  of  October  8,  1881,  which  I  was  obliged  to  ad- 
dress to  him  in  consequence  of  the  publication  of  the  memorandum  of  Mr.  Hurlbut  to 
Mr.  Lynch.  In  that  communication  the  government  of  Santa  Maria  defined  its  fu- 
ture policy  in  the  war,  and  the  necessary  conclusions  of  peace;  and  on  my  part  there 
was  neither  then,  nor  afterwards  not  even  an  insinuation  that  would  authorize  Mr.  Kil- 
patrick to  give  to  his  government  the  assurances  that  he  gave  in  the  name  of  Chili  in 
Ms  dispatch  of  the  2d  of  December,  1881. 

I  added  that  Mr.  Kilpatrick  wrote  to  his  government  under  the  constant  influence  of 
a  specially  prave  infirmity,  and  that  he  comuosed  his  dispatches  falling  into  very  se- 
rious and  without  doubt  involuntary  errors.  No  reason  is  seen,  nor  can  any  be  imagined, 
that  would  induce  him  to  act  in  an  opposite  manner  to  that  which  he  always  displayed 
for  the  maintenance  of  friendship  and  cordiality  between  the  Governments  of  Chili 
and  the  United  States ;  but  I  would  fear  to  compromise  that  same  good  and  cordial 
understanding  if  I  did  not  put  into  writing  the  declarations  substantially  as  I  made 
them  to  you  in  the  conferences  of  the  16th  and  19th  of  the  present  month  of  January. 

The  note  of  the  22d  of  November,  1881,  of  Mr.  Elaine  to  General  Kilpatrick,  made 


AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  23 

public,  and  in  which  is  copied  a  part  of  the  dispatch  of  Mr.  Kilpatrick  to  Mr.  Elaine, 
on  the  date  referred  to,  of  the  15th  of  August,  1881,  especially  obliges  me  to  proceed 
in  this  manner.  BPCEW 

With  expressions  of  the  highest  consideration,  &c. 

J.  M.  BALMACEDA. 


[Inclosure  2  in  No.  10.] 
Mr.  Trescot  to  Seiior  Balmaceda. 

SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA, 

Vina  del  Mar,  Chili,  January  30,  1882. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  27th  instant, 
marked  "confidential." 

I  found  in  it  a  fuller  and  more  precise  statement  of  the  general  remarks  which  you 
made  at  the  conference  between  us,  when  the  dispatches  of  General  Kilpatrick  were 
communicated  to  you. 

When  I  called  your  attention  to  these  dispatches  I  of  course  recognized  your  right 
to  correct  any  misconception  of  the  purpose  or  language  of  the  government  into  which 
General  Kilpatrick  may  have  fallen,  and  I  have  now  to  express  my  satisfaction  at  the 
courteous  manner  in  which  you  have  pointed  out  what  you  consider  to  be  such  miscon- 
ception. 

Your  frank  recognition  at  the  conference  that  the  action  of  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment was  properly  based  upon  the  confidence  which  it  naturally  reposed  in  its 
diplomatic  representative  in  Chili,  and  resting  upon  this  information,  was  guided  by 
due  consideration  of  the  rights,  interests,  and  supposed  wishes  of  Chili,  relieved  this 
incident  of  any  unpleasant  influence  upon  our  discussions,  and  will,  I  hope,  render 
any  further  reference  to  it  unnecessary. 

But  you  will  readily  understand  that  in  receiving  and  transmitting  to  my  govern- 
ment this  communication,  it  is  my  duty  to  guard  against  any  admission  that  General 
Kilpatrick  was  alone  or  altogether  in  error. 

After  many  years  of  varied,  brilliant,  and  honorable  service  he  died  in  the  discharge 
of  his  duty.  How  far  the  long  and  severe  illness,  to  which  you  refer  with  such  kindly 
and  honorable  sympathy,  incapacitated  him  for  the  grave  responsibility  with  which  he 
•was  charged,  I  am  unable  to  judge,  especially  when  you  call  to  my  attention  that  be- 
tween the  dates  of  the  dispatches  of  August  17  and  December  2,  there  passed  between 
yon  and  himself  the  communications  of  October  8,  in  which  were  manifested  the  most 
cordial  and  complete  understanding  between  you. 

That  there  has  been  a  very  serious  misunderstanding  upon  a  very  important  subject 
between  gentlemen  alike  honorable  and  responsible,  there  can  be  no  doubt. 

But  owing  to  the  death  of  General  Kilpatrick  it  only  remains  for  me  to  accept  with 
entire  good  faith  the  statements  you  have  made,  and  to  express  the  conviction  that 
if  General  Kilpatrick  were  alive  to  compare  his  recollections  with  yourself,  and  the 
distinguished  gentlemen  whom  you  represent,  the  apparent  misunderstanding  would 
be  explained  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  the  parties  concerned. 

With  sentiments  of  the  highest  consideration,  &c., 

WM.  HENRY  TRESCOT. 


No.  24. 
Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  12.]  SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

IN  SOUTH  AMERICA, 

Vina  del  Mar,  Chili,  February  24,  1882.     (Eeceived  April  4.) 
SIR  :  I  inclose  herewith  translation  of  the  cipher  dispatch  received 
by  telegraph  on  February  22,  and  the  answer  in  cipher  which  I  sent 
to-day. 

I  would  have  cabled  earlier,  but  that  I  have  been  endeavoring  from 
the  date  of  your  cipher  instruction  of  February  4  to  obtain  some  modi- 


24  AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

fication  of  the  terms  which  I  sent  you  iu  telegram  of  January  23,  as 
those  which  Chili  would  accept  as  the  basis  on  offer  of  good  offices  from 
the  United  States. 

You  may  assure  the  President  that  I  have  urged  upon  the  Govern- 
ment of  Chili  the  wisdom  of  moderation  in  the  terms  which  it  demanded. 
But  Chili  is  determined  to  have  Arica  and  Tacna.  as  well  as  the  terri- 
tory south  of  the  Quebrada  of  Camaroues  (Tarapaca).  The  indemnity 
of  twenty  millions,  with  this  region  of  country  as  a  pledge,  was  only  an 
indirect  mode  of  securing  the  country  itself. 

Peru  has  not,  that  I  can  see,  any  capacity  of  resistance  in  herself,  and 
Chili  will  not  yield  to  any  merely  friendly  persuasion. 

I  ought  to  inform  you  that  when,  upon  the  receipt  of  your  telegram 
of  the  22d  instant,  I  asked  the  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs  for  a 
positive  answer  whether  his  government  would  modify  the  terms  of 
peace,  he  said  that  the  government  was  very  much  embarrassed  by  the 
publication  of  my  cipher  dispatch  to  you  of  23d  January,  of  which  he 
had  learned  by  telegram.  He  said  he  considered  (as  I  must  admit  he 
had  a  right  to  consider)  that  this  Avas  a  confidential  communication  to 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  of  the  terms  which  Chili  proposed 
to  offer,  and  that  however  he  might  feel  disposed  to  listen  to  the  sug- 
gestion of  modification,  the  publication  committed  his  government  to 
their  proposals;  that  they  could  not  now  be  changed  without  admitting 
that  they  were  originally  exorbitant,  and  had  been  modified  under  pres- 
sure from  the  United  States. 

Of  the  sincerity  or  force  of  the  argument  I  shall  say  nothing  now,  as 
it  will  be  my  duty  to  furnish  you  with  the  history  of  this  negotiation. 
But  throughout  the  Secretary  has  assumed  to  be  in  possession  of  fuller 
and  more  accurate  knowledge  of  the  wishes  and  intentions  of  my  gov- 
ernment than  I  have  received. 

The  communication  to  the  Government  of  Chili  of  the  resolution  of 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  that  it  will  not  take  part  in  any 
negotiation  based  upon  the  conditions  proposed,  and  the  reply  of  the 
Government  of  Chili  that  it  is  not  prepared  to  modify  these  conditions, 
practically  closes  this  mission.  The  formal  reply  to  my  communication 
I  will  receive  to-morrow,  but  I  shall  not  answer  it  until  I  have  received 
an  answer  to  my  telegram  of  to-day.  I  do  not  feel  at  liberty,  under  re- 
cent instructions  from  the  Department,  to  carry  out  instruction  No.  2, 
and  prefer  that  the  President  should  instruct  me  what  language  I  shall 
use  under  the  circumstances. 

I  trust  that  these  instructions  will  also  convey  my  recall  and  direct 
me  whether  on  my  way  home  I  shall  stop  at  La  Paz  and  Lima,  in  order 
to  communicate  to  the  Governments  of  Bolivia  and  Peru  that  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  has  been  forced  to  withdraw  its  good 
offices.  Under  the  instructions  witn  which  I  was  originally  furnished, 
I  would  feel  it  to  be  my  duty  to  do  so. 
I  have,  &c.. 

WM.  HENEY  TEESCOT. 


[In closure  1  in  No.  12.] 

No.  1.  Telegram  from  Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Trescot,  dated  February  22,  1S82, 
will  be  found  in  communication  from  Secretary  of  State.  [See  telegram  of  that  date 
from  Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Trescot,  page — .] 


AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  25 

[Inclosure  in  2  No.  12.— Telegram.] 

SPECIAL  MISSION, 
Santiago,  February  24,  18f*>. 
FRELINGHUYSEN,  Washington : 

Chili  will  not  modify  peace  terms,  alleging  they  are,  in.  deference  to  the  United 
States,  better  than  the  offer  at  Arica  and  Lima.  Terms  are  extreme,  but  Chili  is  so 
strong,  Peru  so  weak,  that  mere  friendly  intervention  will  not  have  effect.  Telegraph 
at  once  definite  instructions  what  to  say  and  what  to  do.  No  use  remaining  here. 
Shall  I  go  to  Peru  and  to  Bolivia?  Shall  Elaine  remain  or  return? 

TRESCOT. 


No.  25. 
Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  13.]  SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

IN  SOUTH  AMERICA, 
Vina  del  Mar,  Chili,  March  4,  1882.     (Eeceived  April  17.) 

SIR  :  In  dispatch  No.  8, 1  informed  you  that  the  Secretary  for  Foreign 
Affairs  of  Chili  desired  that  the  conclusions  reached  in  our  own  confi- 
dential conferences  should  be  summarized  in  a  protocol.  I  therefore 
prepared  for  his  consideration  a  draft  of  the  three  conferences.  For  this 
he  then  proposed  to  substitute  a  draft  of  his  own.  Upon  comparison  I 
found  that  while  there  was  a  general  substantial  agreement  there  was 
wanting  in  both  a  sufficiently  full  statement  of  the  points  of  discussion, 
each  of  us  having  naturally  dwelt  more  particularly  on  the  views  which 
he  had  himself  expressed.  I  therefore  wrote  to  Mr.  Balmaceda  a  letter, 
inclosing  draft  of  protocol  confined  simply  to  the  points  agreed  upon. 
After  mutual  correction  we  adopted  the  protocol  which  you  will  find, 
in  Inclosure  No.  1. 

I  suggested  to  Mr.  Balmaceda  that  any  protocol  was  premature,  as  its 
whole  value  depended  upon  the  acceptance  of  the  conditions  of  peace 
which  had  been  referred  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States  for 
consideration. 

But  he  thought  that  it  would  restore  the  confidence  of  the  people 
and  Government  of  Chili  in  their  old  and  amicable  relations  with  the 
United  States  if  it  could  be  understood  that  the  incident  of  the  arrest 
of  Senor  Garcia  Calderon  had  been  satisfactorily  explained ;  that  the  spec- 
ial mission  was  an  act  purely  of  friendly  intervention,  and  that  Chili  was 
willing  to  accept  the  good  offices  of  the  United  States,  if  the  United 
States  could  find,  in  the  terms  offered  by  Chili,  the  basis  of  such  a  settle- 
ment as  they  could  recommend  to  the  adoption  of  Peru.  When  the 
terms  of  the  protocol  were  finally  settled  I  found  to  my  surprise  that 
Mr.  Balmaceda  desired  it  should  be  sealed  as  well  as  signed.  I  called 
to  his  attention  that  this  instrument  was  not  an  act,  but  a  record.  It 
was  simply  an  agreement  that  the  good  offices  of  the  United  States 
would  be  accepted  by  Chili,  if  offered  upon  certain  conditions  which  I 
had  no  authority  to  accept,  and  which  I  only  undertook  to  refer  to  my 
Government  for  consideration  and  instruction. 

He  said  that  it  was  always  the  custom  in  the  Chilian  Foreign  Office  to 
seal  as  well  as  sign  protocols,  and  as  the  protocol  itself  provided  for  the 
reference  to  and  decision  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and 
had  absolutely  no  vitality  independent  of  the  consent  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  I  agreed  to  exeucte  it  as  he  desired. 

In  the  conversations  which  preceded  the  protocol  I  had  read  to^Ir. 
Balmaceda  the  dispatches  from  Mr.  Christiancy,  Mr.  Osborn,  and  Gen- 
eral Kilpatrick,  in  which  they  had  informed  the  Government  of  the 


26  AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

Tinted  States  that  the  Go vernmeut  of  Chili  had  resolved  to  support  the 
Calderon  government  in  Peru,  and  in  which  General  Kilpatriek  had 
even  gone  further  and  assured  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
that  the  Government  of  Chili  was  willing  to  negotiate  with  Calderon 
on  the  basis  of  a  war  indemnity  without  demanding  a  cession  of  territory, 
except  in  the  case  Peru  was  unable  to  furnish  a  reasonable  indemnity. 
While,  as  you  have  been  informed  by  earlier  dispatches,  Mr.  Baluiaceda 
was  of  opinion  that  General  Kilpatriek  had  fallen  into  very  grave  errors 
in  his  estimate  and  statement  of  the  views  and  intentions  of  the  Chilian 
Government,  he  frankly  recognized  that  acting  upon  those  dispatches 
from  diplomatic  representatives  entitled  to  its  confidence,  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  had  in  its  relations  to  the  Calderon  govern- 
ment acted  in  the  interest  of  peace,  and  with  impartial  regard  to  the 
rights  of  both  belligerents.  He  was  frank,  earnest,  and  explicit  in  his 
disavowal  of  any  intended  offense  to  the  United  States,  and  claimed 
that  Chili  was  only  acting  in  the  legitimate  exercise  of  her  belligerent 
rights.  That  Chili  had  tolerated  rather  than  recognized  the  Calderon 
government,  but  that  it  had  never  rested  on  any  substantial  basis,  and 
that  its  issue  of  paper  money,  the  constant  desertion  of  its  soldiers  to 
the  Peruvian  troops  still  in  the  field,  its  maintenance  of  resistance  to  the 
Chilian  government,  and  its  communication  with  the  armed  forces  scat- 
tered over  Peru  from  Lima,  which  was  in  the  military  occupation  of  Chili, 
rendered  its  continuance  inconsistent  with  the  existing  authority  or 
the  military  purpose  of  Chili. 

I  told  Mr.  Balmaceda  that  if  the  Calderon  Government  was  recog- 
nized by  Chili  as  sufficiently  strong,  constitutional,  and  representative 
to  make  a  treaty  of  peace  and  cede  Peruvian  territory  to  Chili,  it  was 
a  government  sufficiently  strong,  constitutional  and  representative  to  be 
recognized  by  neutrals,  and  that  a  reasonable  deference  to  the  friendly 
relations  of  the  United  States  would  seem  to  have  required  notice  of 
the  intended  action  of  Chili,  but  I  could  accept  the  disavowal  as  suffi- 
cient to  withdraw  the  subject  from  further  discussion  and  would  trans- 
mit the  explanation  to  the  United  States. 

But  assuming  that  this  explanation  would  be  satisfactory  as  to  the 
special  action  of  Chili  in  forbidding  the  exercise  of  any  authority  of 
the  Calderou  government  within  the  lines  of  Chilian  military  occupa- 
tion, and  even  in  the  arrest  of  Sefior  Garcia  Calderon,  who  was  coin- 
mander-iu-chief  of  the  Peruvian  forces,  he  could  scarcely  expect  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  to  recognize  as  a  belligerent  right 
the  abolition  of  all  government  in  Peru  by  military  order  and  a  conse- 
quent anarchy  which  would  render  any  peace  impossible;  that  the  neu- 
tral powers  had  rights,  interests,  and  old  established  relations  with 
Peru,  and  so  long  as  they  respected  the  bellige  rent  rights  of  Chili,  they 
were  only  exercising  their  own  equally  clear  right  in  recognizing  a  gov- 
ernment with  which  they  could  communicate,  and  if  the  United  States 
found  itself  able  to  offer  its  good  offices,  the  acceptance  of  the  offer 
must  imply  the  recognition  of  a  government  with  which  to  deal  in 
Peru  as  well  as  in  Chili. 

When  we  came  to  reduce  this  conclusion  to  an  article  in  the  protocol 
I  found  that  Mr.  Balmaceda  was  not  willing  to  express  himself  with 
the  same  fullness  as  in  our  conversation.  I  was  desirous  that  the  form 
of  words  used  should  represent  distinctly  the  ideas  expressed  above. 
I  would  have  insisted  on  this  form  but  that — 

1.  I  was  instructed  by  your  telegram  received  at  Valparaiso  January 
the  4 tli,  1882,  not  to  make  an  issue  which  should  terminate  the  nego- 
tiation. 


AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  27 

2.  I  was  instructed  by  your  telegram  of  the  10th  to  Panama  and  thence 
by  mail,  which,  however,  only  reached  me  on  the  31st,  that  "the  Calde- 
ron  affair  and  its  surroundings  can  be  attended  to  here  when  you  corne 
home." 

3.  When  I  pressed  upon  Mr.  Balrnaceda  my  preference  of  the  form  I 
had  presented,  he  replied  to  me  by  showing  me  the  correspondence  be- 
tween yourself  and  Mr.  Martinez,  in  which,  under  date  of  the  7th  January, 
you  expressed  the  satisfaction  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
with  the  explanation  he  had  made  you  on  behalf  of  the  Chilian  Govern- 
ment.    He  said  he  considered  that  question  as  settled,  and  I  did  not 
feel  authorized  to  press  the  matter  further.     I  regret  that  I  had  not 
been  informed  of  this  correspondence,  for  if  I  had  been  I  should  not  have 
considered  it  proper  to  reopen  the  discussion  of  a  subject  which  had 
been  settled  by  my  superiors  at  home. 

You  will  observe,  however,  that  in  the  protocol  Mr.  Balmaceda  con- 
fines the  exercise  of  belligerent  rights  to  prohibiting  the  authority  of 
the  Calderon  government  within  the  lines  of  Chilian  occupation,  and 
declares  that  Senor  Garcia  Calderon  is  a  "prisoner  of  war,"  while  he  at 
the  same  time  expresses  the  readiness  of  the  Chilian  Government  to  fa- 
cilitate the  communication  of  the  diplomatic  representative  of  the 
United  States  with  any  Peruvian  authority  whom  he  may  recognize  as 
authorized  to  negotiate  with  him. 

The  rest  of  the  protocol  needs  no  comment.  My  instructions  had  no 
reference  to  forcible  intervention,  and  the  avowed  purpose  of  my  mis- 
sion was  if  possible  to  bring  the  belligerents  to  a  friendly  understand- 
ing, and  there,  could  therefore,  be  no  possible  objection  to  saying  so. 

I  was  also  expressly  instructed  not  to  offer  the  mediation  of  the 
United  States  unless  it  was  solicited,  and  mediation  of  necessity  im- 
plied the  consent  of  both  belligerents. 

The  terms  of  peace  being  such  as  Chili  was  willing  to  offer,  it  was 
her  right  to  state  them  in  such  language  and  to  such  extent  as  she" 
deemed  proper. 

And  you  will  observe  that  the  withdrawal  of  the  United  States  from 
any  further  intervention  is  conditioned  upon  her  approval  of  the  terms 
and  her  willingness  to  recommend  them  to  Peru.  In  case,  as  has  hap- 
pened, that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  does  not  approve  the 
terms,  and  declines  to  offer  good  offices  upon  such  conditions,  entire 
liberty  of  action  is  reserved. 

When  the  proctocol  had  been  signed,  I  communicated  to  Mr.  Balma- 
ceda the  decision  of  the  United  States,  which  you  had  made  known  to 
me  in  the  telegram  of  the  4th  of  February.  WThen  I  made  this  com- 
munication Mr.  Balmaceda  desired  that  I  would  so  modify  the  language 
as  not  to  qualify  the  terms  offered.  I  was  willing  to  substitute  a  milder 
phrase  for  the  word  "exorbitant." 

But  this  did  not  satisfy  him.  He  said  he  thought  that  the  offer  of 
good  offices  having  been  accepted  in  a  friendly  spirit,  and  in  special 
deference  to  the  United  States,  we  ought  not,  in  withdrawing  it,  to 
censure  the  terms  in  such  emphatic  language. 

The  withdrawal  itself  was  sufficient.  You  will  remember  that  the 
language  used  was:  "The  Government  of  the  United  States  can  take 
no  part  in  any  negotiation  based  both  upon  the  cession  of  Tarapaca, 
and  a  further  indemnity  of  twenty  millions." 

In  the  meantime  I  received  your  telegram  of  the  22d,  in  which  you 
clearly  limited  the  language  of  th.e  telegram  of  the  4th. 

From  tlte  first  it  might  have  reasonably  been  inferred  that  you  would 
offer  your  good  offices  in  the  alternative,  either  upon  the  cession  of 


28  AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

.Tarapacd  or  upon  a  liberal  war  indemnity,  but  not  upon  both  combined. 
Your  last  telegram  only  authorized  me  to  accept  a  liberal  war -indem- 
nity as  the  basis  of  good  offices. 

I  availed  myself,  therefore,  of  Mr.  Balmaceda's  objection  to  withdraw 
the  letter  and  substitute  that  which  follows  the  protocol,  and  which 
simply  says  that  the  United  States  cannot  offer  its  good  offices  on 
these  terms. 

This  letter,  although  dated  the  14th,  the  same  date  as  the  original,  was 
not  really  agreed  upon  until  after  the  receipt  of  your  telegram  of  the 
22.  (Inclosure  No.' 2.) 

On  the  24th  Mr.  Balmaceda  replied  that  the  Government  of  Chili  was 
not  prepared  to  make  any  modification  in  its  terms.  (Inclosure  ~No:  3.) 

This  fact  I  immediately  telegraphed  you.  This  subject  is  therefore 
now  before  you  upon  the  decision  of  the  Government  of  Chili  that  it 
will  not  modify  the  terms  of  peace. 

I  deemed  it  proper,  while  informing  Mr.  Balmaceda  confidentially  of 
your  estimate  of  the  terms  of  peace,  not  to  commit  the  government  by 
any  formal  qualification,  but  to  leave  you  entirely  free,  upon  learning 
the  refusal  of  the  Chilian  Government  to  modify  them,  to  instruct  me 
what  answer  to  make. 

I  therefore  wait  to  know  whether  I  shall  simply  accept  the  refusal 
and  withdraw  the  good  offices,  reserving  to  the  Government  entire 
liberty  of  action  as  to  the  future  conduct  of  Chili,  or  whether  I  shall 
state  the  reason  of  the  withdrawal,  expressing  to  the  Government 
of  Chili  the  belief  of  the  United  States  that  such  terms  are  exorbitant, 
or  whether  I  shall  take  any  other  action  such  as  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  shall  consider  called  for  under  the  circumstances. 
I  have  the  honor,  &c., 

WM.  HENRY  TKESCOT. 


[Inclosure  1  in  Xo.  13.] 
PROTOCOL. 

At  several  conferences  held  in  the  Department  of  Foreign  Relations  at  Santiago,  on  the 
16tb,  19th,  and  20th  days  of  January  of  the  present  year,  1883,  Mr.  William  Henry  Trescot, 
Special  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  and  Mr.  Jose  Manuel  Balmaceda,  Minister  of  Foreign  Relations  of  the  Repub- 
lic of  Chili,  discussed  in  a  frank  and  confidential  manner  the  relations  of  the  United 
States  with  Chili  and  Peru,  and  of  the  two  last-named  nations  with  one  another,  ex- 
changing their  views  in  terms  reciprocally  Jrieudly,  and  mutually  agreed  to  draw  up 
in  this  single  protocol,  the  conclusions  which  they  reached  in  the  aforesaid  conference. 

First.  Mr.  Trescot  having  stated  that  the  United  States  recognized  the  government 
of  Garcia  Calderon  on  account  of  friendship  towards  the  contestants  and  in  the  in- 
terest of  peace,  and  that  the  government  of  his  country,  being  the  only  one  which 
has  recognized  the  aforesaid  government  by  acreditiug  a  representative  near  »<>  it, 
might  suppose  that  the  arrest  of  Garcia  Calderon  was  an  act  of  offense  to  the  United 
States;  and  Mr.  Balmaceda  having  said  that  Chili  abolished  the  authority  of  Garcia 
Calderon  within  the  radius  occupied  by  her  forces,  and  arrested  him  with  no  purpose 
of  offense  to  the  United  States  or  any  other  neutral  power,  and  making  use  of  IKT 
legitimate  belligerent  rights,  there  was  no  necessity  for  further  discussion  of  this 
incident. 

Second.  The  armed  intervention  of  the  United  States  in  the  war  which  Chili  is  carry- 
ing on  with  Peru  would  not  be  a  diplomatic  proceeding  of  the  nature  of  that  which 
is  to-day  exercised  by  Mr.  Trescot,  nor,  in  consequence  would  it  correspond  to  the 
friendly  spirit  of  his  mission;  and  mediation  does  not  conform  to  the  convenience  of 
the  belligerents,  nor  is  it  solicited  by  Chili.  The  United  States  eliminates  from  all 


AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA,  29 

discussion  the  possibility  of  armed  intervention,  and  would  offer  mediation  only  in 
<'HM-.  tha-t  the  belligerents  showed  a  desire  to  obtain  it,  and  when  its  acceptance  would 
It-ad  to  results  satisfactory  to  both  belligerents. 

Third.  The  incident  of  the  arrest  of  Garcia  Calderon,  the  armed  intervention  and  the 
mediation  of  the  United  States,  being  points  eliminated  from  all  discussion  and  defi- 
nitely concluded,  Chili  declares  that,  as  a  mark  of  mutual  friendship  and  confidence, 
she  would  accept,  if  they  should  be  offered,  the  good  offices  of  the  United  States  in 
The  contest  with  Peru,  provided  that  the  United  States,  in  the  exercise  of  its  good 
offices,  accepts  the  conditions  of  peace  which  Chili  would  be  disposed  to  concede  to 
the  enemy  ;  and  witlfthe  understanding  that,  if  the  United  States  should  not  obtain 
the  consent  of  Peru  to  the  conditions  of  peace,  which  serve  as  the  basis  of  its  good 
offices,  in  that  case  the  action  of  the  United  States  between  the  two  belligerents  should 
terminate. 

Fourth.  If  the  good  offices  of  the  United  States  shall  be  offered  and  accepted  in  the 
manner  heretofore  set  forth,  Chili  would  give,  through  her  civil  and  military  authori- 
ties, every  possible  facility  to  Mr.  Trescot  for  communicating  with  any  Peruvian  au- 
thority or  persons  to  whom  he  may  judge  fit  to  offer  his  good  offices,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Garcia  Calderon,  who  is  a  prisoner  of  war. 

Fifth.  The  bases,  in  conformity  to  which  Chili  will  make  peace,  reserving  to  her- 
self every  right  and  entire  liberty  of  action,  if  they  should  not  be  accepted  by  Peru, 
are  as  follows : 

1st.  Cession  to  Chili  of  all  the  territory  of  Peru  situated  to  the  south  of  the  Que- 
brada  de  Camarones. 

%2d.  Occupation  of  the  region  of  Tacna  and  Arica  for  ten  years,  Peru  being  obliged 
to  pay  twenty  millions  of  pesos  at  the  expiration  of  that  time  If  at  the  expiration 
of  that  time,  P«ru  should  not  pay  to  Chili  the  twenty  millions  of  pesos,  the  territory 
of  Tacna  and  Arica  should  remain,  ipso  facto,  ceded  to  and  incorporated  in  the  terri- 
tories of  the  Republic  of  Chill.  Peru  may  fix  in  the  treaty  of  peace  a  time  longer 
than  ten  years,  in  conformity  with  the  conditions  just  before  stated.  If  Arica  returns 
to  the  power  of  Peru,  it  shall  remain  forever  unfortified. 

3d.  Chili  shall  occupy  the  islands  of  Lobos,  so  long  as  there  shall  be  guano  upon  them, 
and  both  the  net  product  of  the  guano,  taken  from  them  and  that  from  the  mines  dis- 
covered and  being  worked  in  Tarapaca"  shall  be  equally  divided  between  Chili  and 
the  creditors  of  Peru. 

Finally  Mr.  Trescott  deemed  it  necessary  to  telegraph  to  his  government,  and  await 
a  reply,  in  order  to  state  whether  he  can  offer  to  Chili  the  good  offices  of  the  United 
Stat'es  in  the  manner  and  conditions  herein  stated. 

In  testimony  of  which  the  Special  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Relations  of  Chili,  have 
signed  and  sealed  the  present  protocol,  in  duplicate,  and  in  the  Spanish  and  English 
languages,  in  Vina  del  Mar,  the  eleventh  day  of  the  month  of  February,  in  the  year 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eigh  y-two. 

WILLIAM  HENRY  TRESCOT. 
J.  M.  BALMACEDA. 


[Inclosure  2  in  No.  13.] 
Mr.  Trescot  to  Senor  Balmaceda. 

SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA, 

Vina  del  Mar,  Chili,  February  14,  1882. 

SIR  :  It  having  been  understood  between  us,  as  noted  in  the  protocol  of  the  confer- 
ences, that  I  should  transmit  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States  the  conditions  of 
peace  which  the  Government  of  Chili  was  willing  to  offer  to  Peru,  through  the  good 
offices  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  make  known  to  you,  if  the  United  States  would 
tender  their  good  offices  to  the  belligerents  upon  such  conditions,  I  have  the  honor  to 
inform  you  that  I  have  made  the  communication  to  my  government,  and  am  instructed 
to  reply.  The  Government  of  the  United  States,  while  desirous  to  offer  its  impartial 
co-operation  and  its  friendly  aid  in  such  negotiations  as  may  lead  to  a  peace  satisfac- 
tory to  both  belligerents,  cannot  tender  its  good  offices  upon  the  conditions  proposed. 
I  am  further  instructed  to  inquire  whether  the  Government  of  Chili  is  prepared  to 
make  any  modification  of  these  terms;  and.  if  so,  what  they  are. 

Awaiting  the  honor  of  a  reply,  and  with  the  assurances  of  my  highest  consideration, 

'  &C>>  WM.  HENRY  TRESCOT. 


30  t  AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

[luclosure  3  in  No.  13.— Translation.] 
Senor  Balmaceda  to  Mr.  Trescot. 

REPUBLIC  or  CHILI, 
MINISTRY  OF  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS, 

Vina  del  Mar,  February  24,  1882. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  excellency's  note  dared 
the  14th  of  this  month,  in  which  you  are  pleased  to  communicate  to  me  that,  in  com- 
pliance with  the  agreement  in  the  conference  as  testified  hy  the  protocol  of  the  1 1th 
instant,  you  have  addressed  a  communication  to  your  government ;  that  Your  Excel- 
lency is  instructed  and  authorized  to  answer  in  its  name  ;  that  you  were  desirous  to 
offer  its  impartial  co-operation  and  its  friendly  aid  in  the  negotiations  of  peace  with 
Peru ;  that  it  cannot  tender  its  good  offices  upon  the  conditions  proposed,  and  that 
you  are  instructed  to  inquire  whether  the  Government  of  Chili  will  modify  them,  and 
in  what  terms. 

In  the  protocol  of  February  llth  instant,  the  basis  was  laid  down  in  accordance  to 
which  my  government  would  accept  the  good  offices  if,  for  the  purpose  of  procuring 
peace  on  the  conditions  proposed,  they  were  expontaneously  offered  to  it.  That,  I 
am  now  instructed  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  does  not  offer  its  good 
offices,  which  is  an  answer  to  my  government,  to  the  question  that  was  left  pending  in 
said  protocol. 

And  finally  I  have  the  honor  to  say  to  you,  in  the  name  of  His  Excellency  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Republic,  that  we  maintain  the  conditions  of  peace  set  forth  in  the  docu- 
ment already  cited,  because  they  are  demanded  by  absolute  rigorous  necessity  on  ac- 
count of  expenses,  and  the  damages  caused  by  the  war,  the  security  of  the  Republic, 
and  its  future  stability. 

The  Government  of  Chili  has  ever  had  confidence  in  the  neutrality  and  good  friend- 
ship of  the  Government  of  the  United  States.  This  friendship  and  confidence  is 
strengthened  without  doubt  by  the  declarations  contained  in  the  protocol  of  February 
11,  and  also  by  those  contained  in  the  note  which  I  have  the  honor  to  reply  To,  in 
which,  besides  saying  that  your  government  will  not  offer  its  good  offices,  you  express 
the  desire  to  tender  its  impartial  co-operation  and  its  friendly  aid  in  the  negotiations 
that  may  lead  the  belligerents  to  the  termination  of  the  struggle. 

With  sentiments  of  the  highest  consideration,  I  have  the  honor  to  subscribe  myself, 
your  excellency's  obedient  servant, 

JOSE  M.  BALMACEDA. 


No.  26. 

Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

[Telegram.] 

SPECIAL  MISSION, 

Santiago,  March  4,  1882. 
FRELINGHUYSEN,  Washington  : 

Instructions  carried  out  scrupulously.  Chili  will  not  modify  peace 
terms.  Publication  of  my  instructions  and  my  confidential  telegram 
have  rendered  modification  impossible.  Will  stay  as  ordered,  but  my 
presence  at  Washington,  with  information,  will  be  more  useful  than 
remaining  here.  What  communication  of  the  intention  of  the  United 
States  shall  be  made  to  Peru  and  to  Bolivia? 

TRESCOT. 


No.  27. 

Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 
[Telegram.] 

SPECIAL  MISSION, 
Valparaiso,  March  15,  1882. 
FRELINGHUYSEN, 

Secretary,  Washington  : 
After  full  and  friendly  interview  with   minister  for  foreign  affairs, 


AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  31 

condition  of  affairs,  in  my  judgment,  requires  my  presence  in  Peru.  If 
you  do  not  disapprove,  Elaine  goes  to  Bolivia,  joining  me  in  Peru  after 
conferring  with  Adams. 

Eeliable  information  from  both  places  is  very  necessary. 

Feel  no  apprehension  of  any  departure  from  jour  instructions.    Tel- 
egraph me  at  once. 

TEESCOT. 


No.  28. 
Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinyhuysen. 

No.  15.]  SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

IN  SOUTH  AMERICA, 

Valparaiso,  Chili,  March  16,  1882.     (Received  April  22.) 
SIR:  Referring   to  my  dispatch  No.  10,  in  which  I  inclosed  corre- 
spondence between  Senor  Balmaceda  and  myself,  in  relation  to  General 
Kilpatrick's  dispatches    of  August  17  and  December  2,  I  have  now 
the  honor  to  inclose  a  publication  in  the  Diario  Ojicial,  together  with 
translation  of  the  same. 
I  have,  &e., 

WM.  HENRY  TRESCOT. 


[Inclosure  1  in  No.  15.  J 

Abstract  translated  from  the  official  netvspaper  of  the  Chilian  Republic,  dated  Santiago 

Wednesday,  March  8,  1882. 

RECTIFICATION. 

In  the  instructions  given  by  Mr.  Elaine  to  the  honorable  minister  of  the  United 
States  in  Chili,  Mr.  Trescot,  mention  is  made  of  the  notes  of  August  15  and  December 
2  of  last  year,  addressed  by  General  Kilpatrick  to  his  government 

In  the  conferences  that  took  place  on  the  16th,  19th,  and  20th  of  January,  the  text  of 
those  notes  was  made  known,  and  at  the  moment  Senor  Balmaceda  objected,  immedi- 
ately addressing  an  official  note  to  the  Special  Envoy  of  the  United  States,  in  which 
he  made  serious  rectifications. 

The  said  notes  having  been  published  in  the  United  States,  and  reference  having 
been  made  to  them  in  the  instructions  which  Mr.  Elaine  gave  to  Mr.  Trescot,  it  is  ex- 
pedient to  make  known  officially,  whilst  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  original  docu- 
ments published  in  the  United  States  which  will  authorize  the  publications  of  the  rec- 
tifications by  Mr.  Balmaceda  in  Chili,  that  those  notes  contain  substantial  errors. 

This  rectification  being  of  as  much  interest  for  the  exactness  of  the  foreign  transac- 
tions of  the  Government  of  Chili  as  for  the  cordial  and  correct  understanding  with  the 
United  States,  it  is  proper  that  it  should  be  made  known  that  the  Government  of  Chili 
has  objected  to  the  notes  of  August  15  and  December  2  of  last  year  from  Mr.  Kilpat- 
rick to  his  government. 


:NO.  29. 

Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

[Telegram.] 

VALPARAISO,  March  21,  1882. 
FEELINGHUYSEN,  Washington  : 

Telegram  received.     Leave  twenty-first. 


32  AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

No.  30. 
Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

[Telegram.] 

SPECIAL  MISSION,  LIMA, 
(Eeceived  in  Washington,  April  2,  1882.) 
FRELINGHUYSEN,  Washington  : 

Arrived  twenty-eighth.    General  Hurlbnt  died  suddenly  of  heart  dis- 
ease on  morning  of  twenty-seventh. 

TRESCOT. 


No.  31. 
No.  17]  Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinghnysen. 

SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

Lima,  Peru,  March  29,  1882.     (Eeceived  April  26.) 

Sm  :  It  has  become  my  very  melancholy  duty  to  inform  you  of  the 
sudden  death  of  General  Hurlbut,  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister 
Plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  in  Peru. 

He  died  very  suddenly  on  the  morning  of  the  27th  of  disease  of  the 
heart.  There  had  been  no  indication  of  indisposition  of  any  kind,  and 
he  got  up  about  seven  o'clock  in  apparently  perfect  health.  He  had 
partly  dressed,  and  was  just  about  washing  his  face  when  he  fell.  For 
thirty  minutes  he  appeared  to  suffer  greatly,  and  at  the  end  of  that 
time  he  was  dead.  After  the  first  paroxysm  he  exclaimed,  lt Angina 
pectoris,"  and  with  a  very  few  words  to  his  family,  showing  that  he 
felt  he  was  dying,  he  passed  away. 

An  autopsy  was  held  by  the  fleet  surgeon,  a  physician  appointed  by 
General  Lynch,  the  commander  of  the  Chilian  forces,  and  some  Peru- 
vian members  of  the  medical  profession.  I  cannot  send  you  in  this  dis- 
patch the  official  report  of  the  autopsy,  but  I  can  say  that  the  opinion 
of  the  fleet  surgeon  and  of  the  family  are  one  as  to  the  cause  of  his 
death. 

The  peculiar  and  excited  condition  of  public  opinion  here  has  given 
rise  to  reports  which  are  so  absurd  that  I  do  not  think  they  ought  even 
to  be  repeated.  Upon  the  announcement  of  his  death,  General  Lynch 
issued  orders  that  his  funeral  should  be  attended  with  the  military  cere- 
monies to  which  a  major-general  in  the  Army  would  be  entitled.  But 
the  family  declined  this  courtesy.  The  funeral  was,  at  their  desire,  a 
private  one,  but  General  Lynch  acted  as  chief  pall-bearer,  and  there 
was  a  very  full  attendance  of  the  officers  of  the  Chilian  Army  and 
Navy. 

It  is  only  proper  for  me  to  add  that  the  manifestation  of  public  feel- 
ing was  very  demonstrative,  and  apparently  very  sincere.  The  streets 
through  which  the  funeral  cortege  passed  were  thronged,  and  from  the 
balconies  flowers  were  thrown  upon  the  hearse. 

I  reached  Callao  at  sundown  yesterday,  and  was  first  informed  of 
General  Hurlbut's  death  by  signal  from  the  flag-ship.  I  came  here  by 
the  earliest  train  I  could  take  after  seeing  the  admiral. 

I  regret  exceedingly  that  I  have  not  the  right  to  request  that  his  re- 
mains should  be  carried  to  Panama  in  a  ship  of  war.  The  privacy  of 


AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  33 

such  a  voyage  would  be  grateful  to  his  distressed  family,  and  the  honor 
to  him  would  have  been  well  deserved  by  one  who,  whatever  may  have 
been  his  faults  of  judgment,  meant  to  serve  his  country  faithfully  and 
honorably.  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  urging  upon  the  admiral  a  com- 
pliance with  this  wish  of  the  family,  for,  besides  the  reasons  which  I 
have  stated,  General  Hurlbut  has  died  in  the  service  of  his  country  a 
poor  man. 

Mr.  Moore,  the  consul  at  Callao,  has  taken  charge  of  the  archives  of 
the  legation,  and,  with  the  uncertainty  of  my  stay  here  and  his  entire 
fitness,  I  have  not  felt  that  I  was  called  upon  to  interfere. 
I  have,  &c., 

WM.  HENEY  TEESGOT. 


No.  32. 

Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 
(Confidential.) 

No.  19.]  SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

IN  SOUTH  AMERICA, 
Lima,  Peru,  April  5,  1882.     (Eeceived  April  26.) 

SIR  :  I  must  ask  that  this  dispatch  be  considered  entirely  confiden- 
tial. My  reason  for  the  request  will,  I  think,  be  apparent  and  satis- 
factory when  you  have  read  it. 

In  dispatch  No.  13,  under  date  March  4,  I  communicated  to  you  the 
protocol  and  the  consequent  correspondence  between  Senor  Balmaceda 
and  myself.  The  position  then  established  was  that  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  declined  to  offer  its  good  offices  upon  the  conditions 
stated  in  the  protocol,  and  the  Government  of  Chili  declined  to  modify 
those  conditions. 

From  the  date  of  that  correspondence  up  to  the  time  of  my  leaving 
Valparaiso,  I  had  several  full  and  frank  conversations  with  the  Chilian 
secretary  of  state. 

I  cannot  undertake  to  repeat  these  discussions  in  detail.  It  will  be 
sufficient  to  say  that  on  the  Sunday  before  my  departure  (18th  March) 
the  secretary  expressed  to  me  in  the  strictest  confidence  his  willingness 
to  consider  the  following  modifications  of  his  original  terms,  if  Peru 
would  propose  them  as  a  substitute: 

******* 

You  will  see  that  these  are  very  considerable  concessions.  Of  course 
I  told  the  secretary  that  I  had  no  authority  to  accept  them  as  the  basis 
of  an  ofter  of  good  offices;  that  I  could  not  even  say  that  as  a  matter 
of  individual  opinion.  I  would  advise  their  acceptance,  and  that  I  did 
not  believe  they  would  be  accepted.  He  thought  they  would  be.  All 
that  I  felt  authorized  to  do  was  to  bring  them  confidentially  to  the 
notice  of  the  provisional  government  of  Peru. 

******* 

[Note  to  dispatch  No.  19.J 

The  extracts  from  this  dispatch  are  sufficient  to  render  entirely  intel- 
ligible the  references  in  the  dispatches  which  follow. 
S.  Ex.181 3 


34  AFFAIRS    IN   PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

The  President  does  not  deem  it  proper  to  publish  the  modifications 
of  the  terms  of  peace  suggested,  as  they  were  communicated  in  confi- 
dence to  the  diplomatic  representative  of  the  United  States,  and  as  the 
prospects  of  negotiations  between  Peru  and  Chili  cannot  be  considered 
as  terminated. 

For  the  same  reason  the  explanation  of  the  terms  in  detail,  and  the 
considerations  in  reference  to  them  by  the  minister  of  the  United  States,, 
submitted  in  this  dispatch,  are  omitted. 


No.  33. 

Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 
[Telegram.] 

SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

Lima,  April  12,  1882. 

FRELiNGrHUYSEN,  Washington  : 

Will  leave  on  the  loth,  being  absent  a  few  days,  to  see  Montero.  I 
believe  bases  negotiations  between  the  belligerents  can  be  obtained. 
Is  most  important  I  should  be  in  Washington  before  opening  of  the 
negotiations  to  inform  you  of  facts.  Telegraph  answer  Lima. 

TRESCOT. 

[The  errors  in  transmission  rendered  this  telegram,  as  it  reached  the  department,  undecipherable 
This  translation  is  taken  from  Mr.  Trescot's  dispatch  No.  23.] 


No.  34. 

Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 
[Telegram.] 

SPECIAL  MISSION, 

Lima,  May  3,  1882.     (Eeceived  May  8,  1882.) 
FRELINGHUYSEN,  Washington  : 

Undecipherable  telegram  contained  substance  my  dispatch  No.  19. 
I  had  an  interview  with  Montero.    He  is  desirous  of  peace  ;  prelimi- 
nary to  the  negotiations  he  asks  that  Government  of  Chili  recognize  the 
provisional  government,  and  grant  armistice,  allowing  the  meeting  of 
Congress.    Have  urged  compliance  upon  the  Government  of  Chili.     Still 
waiting  reply.    I  consider  it  important  that  I  should  be  in  Washington 
before  the  negotiations  are  opened. 
Please  to  reply  by  telegraph  immediately. 

TEESCOT. 


No.  35. 
Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  24.]  SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

IN  SOUTH  AMERICA, 

Lima,  Peru,  May  3,  1882.     (Eeceived  May  26.) 

SIR:  Referring  to  my  dispatch,  No.  19  April  5,  I  have  to  inform  you 
that  I  left  Lima,  as  telegraphed,  on  the  15th  for  Casma,  the  only  open 
port  on  the  Peruvian  coast,  and  thence  proceeded  to  Huaraz,  the  seat  of 

\ 


AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  35 

the  provisional  constitutional  government  of  Peru.  The  journey  having 
been  safely  accomplished,  no  reference  to  its  incidents  is  necessary. 
But  it  is  perhaps  proper  that  I  should  call  your  attention  to  the  fact 
that  it  is  scarcely  proper  that  the  minister  from  the  United  States  to 
Peru  should  reside  within  the  lines  of  the  Chilian  military  occupation, 
and  if,  as  he  ought,  he  goes  to  the  seat  of  the  provisional  government 
he  must  be  prepared  to  meet  great  discomfort.  Huaraz  is  an  old  Indian 
town  one  hundred  miles  from  the  coast,  lying  between  the  Black  Cor- 
dillera and  the  Cordillera  Nevada,  which  is  the  line  of  perpetual  ice. 
The  elevation  is  high  enough  to  occasion  great  uneasiness  to  persons 
unaccustomed  to  such  elevation,  and  it  can  only  be  reached  by  the 
mountain  road  traveled  by  the  pack- mules  which  bring  to  the  coast  the 
ore  from  the  silver  mines  of  the  province. 

I  undertook  the  journey  because  I  believed  that  the  presentation  of 
my  letters  of  credence  would  strengthen  what  is  unquestionably  the 
real  Government  of  Peru,  recognized  and  obeyed  at  present  by  all  par- 
ties of  the  Peruvian  people.  It  is,  of  course,  confined  in  its  sphere  of 
authority,  is  feeble  in  strength,  and  restricted  in  resources,  but  it  is  an 
actual  government,  and 'represents  whatever  Peruvian  nationality  still 
exists.  You  will  remember  that  while  accepting  the  disavowal  of  the 
Chilian  Government  of  any  intended  offense  in  the  arrest  of  Senor  Cal- 
deron,  I  took  the  ground  that  such  action  could  not  destroy  the  exist- 
ence of  the  Government  of  Peru,  and  I  felt  bound  to  do  whatever  was 
necessary  to  maintain  the  recognition  of  that  government  by  the  United 
States. 

I  was  also  authorized,  as  dispatch  No.  19  has  informed  you,  to  indi- 
cate to  the  Peruvian  Government  that  certain  modifications  in  the  terms 
of  the  protocol  would  be  considered  by  the  Chilian  Government.  The 
only  government  in  Peru  which,  under  my  instructions,  I  was  authorized 
to  recognize  was  the  provisional  government ;  and  if  there  was  any  pos- 
sibility of  bringing  the  belligerents  to  a  negotiation  for  peace,  the  mat- 
ter was  too  important  for  any  but  direct  communication  with  the  Presi- 
dent of  Peru  himself. 

I  arrived  in  Huaraz  on  Saturday,  the  22d  April,  and  presented  my 
credentials  to  General  Montero  on  Tuesday,  the  25th.  I  inclose  the 
very  brief  speech  which  I  made,  and  the  President's  reply.  (Inclosures 
No.  1  and  2.)  After  several  conferences  with  Senor  Alvarez,  the  Secre- 
tary for  Foreign  Affairs,  he  addressed  me  the  letter  which  you  will  find 
in  inclosure  No.  3. 

I  found  General  Moutero  and  his  advisers  fully  alive  to  the  impor- 
tance to  Peru  of  peace,  and  perfectly  aware  that  under  existing  circum- 
stances peace  could  only  be  obtained  at  the  cost  of  great  sacrifice. 
But  I  am  obliged  to  modify  to  some  extent  the  impression  which  I  had 
received  in  Lima,  and  which  I  communicated  in  dispatch  No.  19.  I  am 
still  of  opinion  that  three-fourths,  if  not  more,  of  the  business  men  on 
the  coast  would  make  peace  at  the  cost  of  the  cession  of  Tarapaca,  and 
I  believe  that  the  government  also  recognizes  the  necessity.  But  the 
government  is  not  strong  enough  to  act  independently,  and  the  papers 
from  the  United  States  containing  Senator  Call's  speech  and  your  in- 
struction to  me  of  the  24th  February  have  induced  a  belief  here  that 
practical  intervention  of  the  United'States  to  save  cession  of  Tarapaca 
is  still  possible. 

There  is  not,  in  my  opinion,  the  slightest  possibility  of  Peru's  contrib- 
uting anything  to  such  a  result.  She  depends  entirely  upon  the  action 
of  the  United  States.  I  cannot  express  too  strongly  my  conviction  that 
the  time  has  come  when  the  United  States  Government  should  say  dis- 


36  AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

tinctly  to  Peru  to  what  extent  it  is  prepared  to  act  practically  in  the 
way  of  intervention.  As  I  wrote  you,  the  Chilian  Government  is  per- 
fectly aware  that  if  the  United  States  determine  to  intervene  forcibly, 
the  opportunity  must  be  given  to  Peru  to  pay  a  sufficient  indemnity 
and  save  the  cession  of  territory.  But  Chili  does  not  believe  that  the 
United  States  will  so  interfere,  and  she  will  maintain  her  position  until 
the  demonstration  of  such  forcible  intervention  is  made.  Peru  ought 
not  to  be  allowed  to  delude  herself  with  such  an  expectation  if  it  is  not 
to  be  realized. 

A  8  I  have  said,  General  Montero  recognized  the  necessity  for  peace, 
and  while  he  was  not  prepared  to  accept  either  the  terms  of  the  protocol 
or  the  modifications  indicated  in  dispatch  No.  19,  he  was  prepared  to 
make  an  earnest  aud  serious  effort  for  peace  upon  the  preliminary  con- 
ditions— 

1.  That  the  Chilian  Government  should  recognize  him  as  the  lawful 
executive  representative  of  the  existing  pro  visional  government  of  Peru. 
This  he  undoubtedly  is.    All  parties  and  factious  in  Peru  have  agreed 
to  recognize  aud  obey  his  authority,  and  I  cannot  see  how  the  Chilian 
Government  can  expect  him  to  make  peace  until  it  is  willing  to  recog- 
nize his  authority  to  do  so,  which  can  only  be  derived  from  his  official 
position  as  the  executive  of  an  actual  government. 

2.  If  so  recognized,  he  is  a  constitutional  ruler,  although  a  provisional 
one,  and  can  only  act  within  the  limits  of  his  constitutional  authority. 
A  treaty  signed  by  him  without  the  consent  of  the  National  Congress 
would  be  simply  worthless,  and  he  cannot,  as  an  honest  and  honorable 
man,  pledge  himself  in  advance  to  any  treaty.     General  Montero  there- 
fore asks  that  the  Chilian  Government  will  grant  such  an  armistice  as 
will  enable  him  to  call  his  congress  together  at  Arequipa,  the  only  place 
where  it  can  be  conveniently  called.     I  am  so  sure  that  you  will  consider 
the.se  requests  reasonable  that  I  have  urged  their  concession  upon  the 
Chilian  Government,  and  you  will  find  in  inclosure  No.  4  my  letter  to 
the  Chilian  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs. 

1  addressed  him  this  letter  because  I  had  this  morning  a  long  inter- 
view with  General  Lynch,  the  military  commander,  and  Seiior  Novoa, 
the  representative  of  the  civil  authority  of  Chili  here.  Seiior  Novoa, 
who  informs  me  that  he  is  authorized  to  conduct  the  negotiation  for 
peace,  was  not  prepared  to  act  upon  my  representations,  and,  as  he  felt 
bound  to  refer  the  question  to  his  government,  I  addressed  the  Secre- 
tary for  Foreign  Affairs  directly. 

\Vhat  the  terms  of  peace  should  be  I  will  not  now  attempt  to  discuss. 
I  suppose  my  views  would  not  be  entirely  acceptable  to  either  party. 
But  1  do  think  that  the  requests  of  General  Montero  are  reasonable, 
and  that  their  refusal  affords  a  fair  ground  for  protest  on  the  part  of 
the  independent  powers  who  desire  to  see  peace  restored. 

My  letter,  however,  to  the  Chilian  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs  ex- 
presses my  views  so  fully  as  to  render  their  repetition  here  unnecessary. 

If  these  requests  are  granted,  I  think  an  earnest  negotiation  may  be 
expected,  with  some  assurance  of  a  practical  result.  In  that  case  I 
deem  it  of  the  utmost  importance  that  I  be  allowed  to  come  home  arid 
lay  before  you  the  results  of  my  observation  here,  which  I  can  scarcely 
do  with  sufficient  fullness  in  a  dispatch.  You  will  then  be  enabled,  I 
trust,  to  give  definite  instructions  to  the  excellent,  experienced,  and 
able  ministers  who  have  been  recently  appointed  to  supply  the  vacant 
missions  in  Chili  and  Peru. 
I  have,  &c., 

WM.  HENEY  TEESCOT. 


AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  37 

[Inclosure  No.  1  in  No.  24.] 
SPEECH   OF  MR.   TRESCOT  TO   PRESIDENT  MONTERO. 

Mr.  PRESIDENT:  I  have  the  honor  to  present  to  your  excellency  my  credentials  as 
Special  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  from  the  President  of  the 
United  States  to  your  Government. 

I  need  not  assure  Your  Excellency  of  the  sympathy  felt  by  the  United  States  in  the 
efforts  made  by  the  provisional  government  of  Peru  to  establish  order  and  to  obtain 
peace.  The  prompt  recognition  of  Senor  Calderon,  the  continued  recognition  of  the 
government,  after  it  had  been  deprived  of  the  eminent  and  patriotic  services  of  that 
distinguished  citizen,  and  the  earnest  and  persistent  efforts  made  by  my  government 
to  find  a  basis  upon  which  its  intervention,  in  a  spirit  of  equal  friendship  and  respect 
for  all  the  belligerents,  could  contribute  to  effect  a  secure  and  honorable  peace  are 
proofs  sufficient. 

It  would  be  manifestly  unbecoming  in  me  to  discus*  the  causes  which  have  so  far 
obstructed  the  success  of  this  endeavor.  But  I  have  felt  it  my  duty  to  wait,  upon  Your 
Excellency,  not  without  the  hope  that  means  may  yet  be  found  by  which,  with  mutual 
and  honorable  concession,  negotiations  may  be  initiated,  which  will  reconcile  the  in- 
terests of  all  the  belligerents  and  restore  the  peace  so  much  desired. 


[Tnclosure  No.  2  in  No.  24.] 
PRESIDENT  MONTERO'S   REPLY. 

Mr.  MINISTER:  I  receive  with  the  greatest  satisfaction  the  credentials  of  the  Envoy 
of  the  great  republic,  called  upon,  on  account  of  its  progressive  ideas  and  unlimited 
prosperity,  to  exercise  its  beneficial  influence  in  the  moral  order  of  the  continent. 

The  sympathy  of  the  United  States  towards  the  provisional  government  has  not  only 
been  demonstrated  by  the  great  proofs  that  you  have  just  shown,  but  by  visible  re- 
sults. Your  predecessor,  General  Hurlbut,  whose  memory  will  be  preserved  in  Peru 
with  etewial  gratitude  on  account  of  his  opportune  mission  near  the  provisional  gov- 
ernment of  Senor  Garcia  Calderon,  and  on  account  of  having  strengthened  the  constitu- 
tional government  in  our  country,  caused  that  sympathy  to  produce  unspeakable  good 
at  the  time. 

My  government  highly  esteems  the  recognition  of  it,  and  welcomes  with  the  most 
profound  esteem  the  mission  that  you  have  come  to  fulfill  at  this  time. 

The  basis  upon  which  the  efforts  of  your  government  wishes  to  make  peace,  is  easy 
to  be  understood  injustice  and  in  the  interest  of  the  entire  continent. 

It  appears  that  some  countries  have  considered  the  question  of  the  Pacific  as  one  of 
simply  a  private  interest  between  three  belligerent  Republics.  The  government  of 
Chili  expressed  to  the  neutral  powers  in  its  war  circular  against  Peru,  that  it  would 
not  be  reasonable  to  suppose  that,  the  government  of  Santiago  would  attempt  to  modify 
the  geographical  limits  of  the  neighboring  nations.  That  statement  caused  the  war 
on  the  Pacific  to  be  looked  upon  in  that  light ;  but  afterwards  that  government  changed, 
after  having  solemnly  averred  it,  and  therefore  the  face  of  the  question  was  completely 
changed. 

The  pretensions  of  Chili,  palpable  before  the  war,  and  exposed  after  its  victories,  have 
transformed  the  apparent  question  of  private  interests  among  three  Republics  into 
a  question  of  continental  interest. 

To-day  the  question  is  whether  a  State  that  declares  war  to  settle  disputes  whi<;h 
are  susceptible  of  a  p -aceable  solution,  can,  as  a  consequence  of  its  victories  and  of  the 
sacrifices  that  it  had  no  necessity  to  make,  exaftt  not  only  complete  success,  but  the 
acquisition  of  territory  and  riches  to  which  it  never  pretended  to  have  a  right. 

The  question  is  one  of  conquest  ;  a  continental  and  American  question. 

In  your  great  nation  and  the  others  of  this  continent,  you  have  to  consider  if  by  Chil- 
ian preponderance  on  the  Pacific,  by  means  of  the  appropriation  of  foreign  territories 
and  the  boundless  wealth  they  contain,  the  door  would  be  left  open  for  other  encroach- 
ments by  force  of  arms  and  for  national  changes  in  consequence  of  conquest. 

Peru  has  to  look  forward,  as  likewise  all  America,  to  the  influence  and  the  results  that 
these  transformations  would  bring  about  in  the  relations  between  the  old  and  the  new 
continent.  Finally  Peru  has  to  struggle  for  the  triumph  of  principle. 

Every  epoch  has  its  moral  progress  and  some  prevailing  idea  for  the  good  of  human- 
ity ;  Chili  has  not  been  capable,  with  the  fortune  of  its  arms,  of  combating  in  tin*  war 
for  the  triumph  of  a  beneficent  idea,  but  only  for  usurpation.  Peru  is  capable,  in  the 
midst  of  its  misfortunes,  of  sacrificing  its  present  in  order  to  contribute  by  determined 
resistance,  toward  securing  the  future  of  America,  and  will  not  abandon  that  course 
without  disappearing  as  an  independent  nation. 


38  AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

The  solidity  of  interests  and  the  nature  of  the  social  and  political  basis  upon  which 
t  he  existence  of  the  American  states  depend,  in  their  internal  order  aud  in  their  external 
lelations,  permit  us  to  hope  that  the  generous  exertions  of  the  great  republic  of  this 
continent,  in  favor  of  the  re-establishment  of  peace  upon  honorable  and  equitable  condi- 
tions, have  not  been  concluded,  since  reasons  of  justice,  political  morality,  and  legiti- 
mate influence,  which  initiated  them  with  such  a  laudable  purpose  and  which  is 
sanctioned  by  the  history  and  the  traditional  policy  of  your  government,  still  exist. 

Peru  desires  peace  and  is  ready  to  make  any  concession  that  will  not  wound  its  honor, 
its  rights,  and  interests,  or  the  rights,  honor,  and  interests  of  the  allies. 

Your  noble  mission  will  contribute,  I  hope,  to  avoid  the  dismemberment,  and  with 
it  the  destruction  of  the  ancient  nationalities  of  America. 

The  eminent  qualities  which  adorn  and  make  you  personally  so  estimable  are  a 
guarantee  for  the  happy  success  of  these  ideas. 


[Inclosure  No.  3  in  No.  24.  | 
Senor  Alvarez  to  Mr.  Trescot.    , 

MINISTRY  OF  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS  FOR  PERU, 

Huaraz,  April  26,  1882. 

N  SIR  :  The  mission  which  Your  Excellency  has  come  to  fulfill  near  the  Govenment  of 
Peru  is  another  proof  of  the  repeated  efforts  of  Your  Excellency's  government  to  bring 
about  peace  between  the  belligerent  Republics  on  the  Pacific ;  but  up  to  now  these 
efforts  have  only  met  with  two  impediments,  which  cannot  be  considered  insuperable 
to  a  peaceful  mind.  The  first  is  found  in  conditions  which  Chili  proposes  to  impose — 
conditions  which  I  need  not  define,  with  particularity  since  the  government  of  Your  Ex- 
cellency has  viewed  them  as  inacceptable  as  a  starting  point  in  its  good  offices.  The 
second  is  the  resistance  that  Chili  makes  to  all  previous  discussion.  The  purpose  is 
clearly  not  to  allow  a  discussion,  and  this  determination,  which  is  not  reasonable,  nor 
according  to  the  usual  practice  of  modern  nations,  shuts  the  door  to  every  way  to  an 
arrangement. 

Peru  wishes  peace  and  is  ready  to  make  for  that  purpose,  in  concert  with  its  ally,  the 
Republic  of  Bolivia,  any  sacrifice  that  will  not  compromise  the  future  which  both 
have  had  the  right  to  expect  since  they  entered  the  list  of  independent  republics.  But 
it  is  impossible  to  know,  either  the  nature  of  these  sacrifices  or  how  far  they  may  go, 
without  a  reasonable  debate  that  would  carry  conviction  to  the  mind.  It  is  not  im- 
possible, on  the  other  hand,  that  Chili  itself  may  become  persuaded  of  the  convenience 
and  necessity  of  modifying  its  pretension,  to  some  acceptable  terms,  and  it  would  ap- 
pej«r  incompatible  with  the  rules  of  human  prudence  for  Chili  itself  to  place,  with 
unnecessary  persistence,  obstacles  in  the  path  of  its  own  interests. 

The  inconveniences  that  appear  to  have  been  alleged  by  Chili  at  one  time  against 
entering  into  conferences  with  Bolivia  and  Peru  were  on  account  of  the  internal  dis- 
sensions of  the  latter ;  but  Your  Excellency  is  a  witness  that  they  do  not  exist  and  that 
there  is  only  one  government  recognized  without  exception  from  one  end  of  the  country 
to  the  other;  that  this  government  is  the  emanation  of  a  constitutional  congress,  and 
that  all  factions  have  yielded  to  its  authority. 

It  would  not  be  possible  to  explain  in  truth  how  a  government  recognized  by  the 
government  of  Your  Excellency,  before  which  Your  Excellency  is  discharging  your  mis- 
sion, and  which  is  the  only  one  in  the  country,  should  not  be  considered  by  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Chili  as  the  Government  of  Peru  with  which  to  discuss  the  points  of  an  ar- 
rangement. The  Government  of  Chili  can  do  no  less  than  abandon  this  idea,  because 
by  the  force  of  things  it  has  to  come  to  an  understanding  with  some  political  entity 
that  may  represent  Peru,  and  this  cannot  be  any  other  than  the  legal  government  rec- 
ognized by  all  the  nation. 

In  such  a  case,  the  provisional  government  being  a  constitutional  government  and 
being  bound  by  a  treaty  to  the  constitutional  government  of  Bolivia,  it  should  proceed 
with  its  approval  in  all  its  resolutions.  Therefore  the  road  to  peace  might  be  shortened 
and  facilitated  if  both  governments  could  get  together,  and  Peru  arrange  the  best 
means  of  assembling  congress,  without  whose  approval  any  arrangement  is  impos- 
sible. 

As  Your  Excellency's  mission  is  one  of  peace,  I  deem  it  proper  to  make  you  the 
present  suggestions,  that  tend  to  level  the  first  difficulties  which  come  in  the  way,  and 
thus  to  show  the  sincere  wish  that  my  government  entertains  of  reaching  it. 

With  sentiments.  &c. 

M.  ALVAREZ. 


AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  39 

[Inclosure  No.  4  in  ]STo.  24.] 
Mr.  Trescot  to  Senor  Aldunate. 

SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA,  LIMA,  PERU, 

May  3,  1882. 

SIR.  You  are  aware  that  in  my  last  confidential  conversation  with  your  predecessor 
Senor  Balmaceda,  it  was  understood  that  if  the  opportunity  offered,  I  was  authorized 
to  indicate  to  the  provisional  government  of  Peru,  certain  possible  modifications  in  the 
terms  of  peace  stated  in  the  protocol. 

I  have  presented  my  credentials  to  General  Montero  as  Vice  President  of  the  provis- 
ional constitutional  government  of  Peru  and  have  had  several  conferences  with  Senor 
Alvarez,  his  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs. 

I  found  General  Montero  and  his  advisers  fully  aware  of  the  importance  of  peace  to 
Peru  and  not  disposed  to  conceal  from  themselves  or  the  country  that  at  the  end  of 
an  honorable,  patriotic,  but  unsuccessful  war,  peace  would  have  to  be  purchased  at 
the  cost  of  great  sacrifices.  He  would  have  found  himself  unable  to  discuss  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  terms  stated  in  the  protocol.  But  if  he  was  at  liberty  to  assume  that 
these  terms  were  capable  of  modification,  he  would  gladly,  in  concert  with  his  ally, 
the  Government  of  Bolivia,  make  every  effort  to  reach  such  modification  as  would  sat- 
isfy the  just  demands  of  Chili. 

But  you  are  aware  that  the  President  is  only  the  executive  officer  of  a  government 
which  is  constitutional  while  it  is  provisional.  A  treaty  signed  by  him,  without  the 
authority  of  the  national  congress,  especially  if  it  should' pro  vide  for  the  cession  of  ter- 
ritory, would  be  simply  worthless. 

It  would  seem  therefore  only  reasonable  that  before  the  President  makes  any  over- 
tures looking  to  peace,  he  should  have  an  assurance  from  the  Chilian  Government  on 
two  points  : 

1.  That  he  will  be  recognized  by  the  Chilian  Government  as  the  lawful  executive 
representative  of  the  provisional  constitutional  government  of  Peru. 

I  think  it  cannot  be  denied  that  at  the  present  moment  the  government  of  General 
Montero,  however  reduced  his  forces  or  restricted  his  resources,  does  represent  the  ex- 
isting nationality  of  Peru,  and  is  recognized  and  obeyed  by  the  Peruvian  people. 

2.  In  order  to  initiate  the  negotiations  which  it  is  hoped  may  lead  to  a  secure  and 
honorable  peace,  the  President  would  have  to  receive  the  authority  of  the  National 
Congress  to  make  the  necessary  concessions.     Is  the  Government  of  Chili  willing  to 
agree  to  such  an  armistice  as  would  allow  the  President  to  summon  congress  to  meet 
him  at  Arequipa,  the  only  place  at  which  it  could  be  conveniently  assembled?     If  so, 
the  President  is  prepared  immediately  to  call  congress  together  to  lay  before  them  the 
condition  of  the  country,  the  necessity  for  peace,  and  the  terms  upon  which  it  may 
probably  be  obtained.     I  venture  to  express  the  earnest  hope  that  you  will  find  an  ac- 
ceptance of  these  preliminary  conditions  consistent  with  the  rights  and  interests  of 
your  government. 

It  is  needless  for  me  to  recall  to  you  the  fact  that  General  Montero  holds  his  office 
by  virtue  of  the  authority  of  congress,  which  gave  him  power  to  make  peace,  but 
which  forbade  his  doing  so  on  the  basis  of  cession  of  territory.  It  is  therefore  impos- 
sible for  General  Montero  to  make  any  promises  implying  territorial  cession  in  advance. 
Such  promises  wonld  have  no  official  weight  whatsoever  ;  nor  do  I  think  that  with  due 
regard  to  his  honor  you  could  ask  him  to  make  assurances  of  such  a  nature.  But  I  am 
of  opinion  that  as  all  parties  in  Peru  have  recognized  him  as  the  constitutional  head 
of  the  government,  and  as  Chili  has  never  denied  the  national  existence  of  Peru,  he 
may  rightfully  ask,  when  expressing,  as  he  does,  a  sincere  desire  for  peace,  that  his  path 
may  be  thus  far  facilitated  by  your  government,  and  recent  instructions  received  from 
my  government  warrant  me  in  expressing  to  you  the  earnest  desire  and  hope  of  the 
United  States  that  Chili  may  be  able  to  agree  to  the  requests  made  by  General  Mon- 
tero. 

At  present  ifc  seems  to  me  that  the  anomalous  conditions  of  the  relations  between 
Chili  and  Peru  are  the  real  obstacles  to  a  satisfactory  peace.  Until  Chili  recognizes 
the  existence  of  a  lawful  and  responsible  government  in  Peru,  there  is  no  authority 
with  which  to  deal,  and  a  peace — if  such  a  solution  can  properly  be  called  a  peace — 
can  be  reached  only  by  the  imposition  by  force  of  such  terms  as  Chili  may  dictate. 

Nor  can  I  perceive  that  these  concessions  would  in  the  slightest  degree  weaken  the 
present  position  of  the  Chilian  Government.  The  terms  upon  which  the  armistice 
would  be  granted  could  provide  that  there  should  be  no  change  in  the  military  condi- 
tion, either  by  increase  of  the  Peruvian  forces  or  the  acquisition  of  supplies,  while  the 
full  responsibility  of  accepting  or  rejecting  the  terms  of  peace  would  be  placed  where 
they  must,  finally  rest  before  any  peace  can  be  made  secure  upon  the  Peruvian  people. 

In  making  these,  suggestions  you  will  understand  that  I  am  acting  upon  my  last 


40  AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

conversation  with  Sefior  Balmaceda,  rather  as  a  friendly  mediator  than  in  my  official 
character  as  the  special  envoy  to  the  helligerents.  The  views  of  General  Montero.  as 
I  have  expressed  them,  have  been  transmitted  to  my  government. 

I  have  furnished  a  copy  of  this  letter  to  Sefior  Novoa,  and  I  beg  to  request  that,  as 
it  is  most  important  for  my  government  to  be  informed  of  the  intentions  of  Chili,  you 
will  send  an  answer  to  Senor  Novoa  by  cable  as  soon  as  possible. 

I  avail,  &c., 

WM.  HENRY  TRESCOT. 


No.  36. 
Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  25.]  SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

IN  SOUTH  AMERICA, 

Lima,  Peru,  May  9,  1882.     (Eeceived  June  2.) 

SIR  :  I  beg  to  forward  herewith  dispatches  from  Mr.  Walker  Elaine 
to  myself,  referring  to  his  recent  visit  to  Bolivia. 
I  have.  &c., 

WM.  HENEY  TEESCOT. 


[Iriclosure  to  No.  25.] 
Mr.   Walker  Elaine  to  Mr.  Trescot. 

No.  4.]  SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA, 

Lima,  Peru,  May  8,  1882. 

SIR  :  Referring  to  the  subject  of  my  dispatch  numbered  one,  and  dated  Arequipa, 
March  28,  1882,  which  is  hereunto  attached,  marked  inclosure  No.  1,  I  have  the  honor 
to  further  report  that  on  Wednesday,  March  29,  1882,  I  left  Arequipa  for  La  Paz,  Boli- 
via, arriving  at  the  latter  place  at  noon  of  Friday,  March  31.  In  the  afternoon  of 
that  day  I  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  visits  from  Senor  Zilveti,  Bolivian  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs,  and  from  Sefior  Del  Valle,  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plen- 
ipotentiary from  Peru  to  Bolivia.  These  visits  were  purely  of  a  personal  nature,  and 
our  conversation  was  of  the  most  general  character. 

On  Saturday  morning,  April  1,  I  was,  however,  received  officially  by  Sefior  Zilveti 
and,  in  company  with  the  gentlemen  who  accompanied  me  to  La  Paz,  presented  to 
Sefior  Salinas,  the  vice-president  of  Bolivia,  and  to  the  ministers  of  the  government, 
the  President  of  the  country,  General  Campero.  being  then  with  the  army  (consisting 
of  some  five  thousand  men)  at  Oruro  The  conversation  between  Senor  Zilveti  and 
myself,  which  followed  this  presentation,  is,  with  one  or  two  noted  exceptions,  summa- 
rized with  sufficient  accuracy  in  the  memorandum  of  Sefior  Zilveti,  which  was  for- 
warded to  you  through  Mr.  Adams,  of  which  a  copy  and  translation  are  herewith  iii- 
closed  (marked  inclosures  2  and  3). 

I  had  also,  during  the  evenings  of  March  31  and  April  1,  two  long  interviews  with 
Senor  Del  Valle,  the  minister  from  Peru  to  Bolivia.  Our  conversation  was  unreserved, 
and  confidential;  the  principal  incident  worthy  of  comment  was  that  Sefior  Del  Valle 
showed  me  a  memorandum,  signed  on  the  llth  of  February  last  by  Sefior  Zilveti  and. 
himself,  the  effect  of  which  is  to  strengthen  the  alliance  now  subsisting  between  P^ru 
and  Bolivia,  and  by  which  the  two  parties  agree  to  act  in  entire  harmony  and  con- 
cert in  all  negotiations  and  efforts  for  peace  with  Chili.  This  agreement  war*  shown 
to  me  in  such  confidence  that  I  beg  to  earnestly  request  that  knowledge  OQ  our  part  of 
its  existence  may  be  kept  secret. 

Sefior  Del  Valle  further  stated  to  me  that  he  feared  that  his  government  would  not 
regard  with  favor  the  proposition  to  exchange  a  portion  of  its  littoral  for  an  interior 
province  of  Bolivia,  an  arrangement  which  had  been  suggested  by  Sefior  Carrillo.  in 
our  conversation  at  Arequipa.  (See  my  dispatch,  inclosure  No.  1.)  The  acquisition 
of  such  territory  would,  in  his  opinion,  add  nothing  to  the  revenues'  of  Peru;  its  care 
and  government  would  be,  in  fact,  only  a  source  of  expense,  while  the  port  upon  the 
Pacific  which  Bolivia  would  obtain  by  the  exchange  is  a  source  of  large  revenue  to 


AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  41 

Pern.  It  was,  however,  thought  Seiior  Del  Valle,  possible  for  an  arrangement  to  be 
made  by  which  the  effective  neutrality  of  some  selected  port  of  Peru,  for  example, 
Arica  or  Mollendo,  could  be  guaranteed  to  Bolivia,  and  all  the  imports  and  exports  of 
that  country  admitted  and  dispatched  free  of  duty.  In  expressing  these  opinions  Seiior 
Del  Valle  spoke  in  a  personal  capacity,  as  he  had  no  instructions  from  his  government 
nor  was  he  informed  as  to  its  views.  In  the  opinions  expressed  by  Seiior  Carrillo,  and 
reaffimred  by  Seiior  Zilveti,  the  suggestion  is  made  that  Bolivia  will  cede  her  littoral 
to  Chili  only  as  in  lieu  of  an  indemnity,  and  that  it  shall  be  clearly  expressed  in  the 
treaty  of  peace  that  acquisition  of  territory  as  the  rightful  result  of  conquest  in  war 
is  not  in  any  way  recognized,  but  is,  on  the  contrary,  expressly  disavowed.  Sefior 
Del  Valle,  who  was  informed  of  these  views  of  the  Government  of  Bolivia,  stared  to 
me  that  they  would  doubtless  coincide  with  those  of  his  own  government,  but  he  was 
unable  to  see  how,  in  accordance  with  these  ideas,  Peru  could  justly  surrender  Tara- 
paca.  Bolivia  yields  Atacama  only  because  she  finds  herself  unable  to  pay  a  war  in- 
demnity, the  amount  of  which  is  to  be  specified  in  the  definitive  treaty,  and  which  she 
admits  that,  as  a  vanquished  nation,  she  ought  to  pay.  But  how  can  Peru  be  called 
upon  to  cede  territory  when  she  is  willing  and  amply  able  to  pay  the  most  liberal  in- 
demnity to  Chili  ?  I  make  mention  of  these  views  merely  for  the  purpose  of  pointing 
out  a  stumbling-block,  which  would  seem  to  obstruct  united  and  harmonious  eifort  on 
the  part  of  Peru  and  Bolivia  to  make  peace  with  Chili. 

Leaving  La  Paz  on  the  morning  of  Sunday,  April  2,  I  arrived  in  Arequipa  on  the 
evening  of  Monday  the  3d.  That  evening  Senor  Carrillo,  the  Bolivian  minister,  called 
upon  me,  and  again  expressed  his  desire  to  proceed  to  Lima;  requesting  me  to  obtain 
from  the  Chilian  authorities  the  necessary  permission  to  do  so.  This,  as  you  are 
aware,  I  did,  upon  returning  to  Lima,  and  on  April  15  forwarded  to  him  the  passport 
which,  at  my  request,  Seiior  Novoa  had  obtained  for  him  and  for  his  secretary  from 
Admiral  Lynch,  but  so  poor  are  the  postal  arrangements  that,  though  Senor  Carrillo 
did  not  leave  Arequipa  until  the  4th  of  May,  my  letter  containing  the  passport  and 
marked  upon  the  envelope  as  from  the  special  mission  of  the  United  States  never 
reached  him. 

I  returned  to  Mollendo  on  Tuesday,  April  4,  and  sailing  upon  the  U.  S.  S.  Alaska 
had  the  pleasure  of  rejoining  you  in  Lima  on  Friday,  the  7tb.  As  Senor  Carrilu)  has 
arrived  in  Lima,  and  as  you  have  conferred  with  him  upon  the  desires  and  expecta- 
tions of  his  government,  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  elaborate  views  and  present 
facts  with  which  you  are  entirely  familiar.  I  desire,  however,  to  say — 

First.  That  so  far  as  I  can  judge,  my  journey  to  La  Paz  and  conference  with  the 
Bolivian  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  was  opportune  and  productive  of  good  results. 
A  great  deal  of  importance  was  apparently  attached  by  the  Bolivian  Government  to 
the  protocol  signed  on  the  llth  of  February  last  byjourself  and  Senor  Balmaceda. 
The  purport  of 'this  paper  had  been,  according  to  what  Seiior  Zilveti  and  Senor  Car- 
rillo stated  to  me,  greatly  misunderstood,  and  they  expressed  themselves  as  pleased 
with  my  explanation  and  with  what  they  at  once  admitted  to  be  the  just  and  true 
meaning  of  the  protocol.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  sensitiveness,  natural  to  a 
small  country  like  Bolivia,  accounted  in  large  measure  for  the  feeling  of  the  govern- 
ment upon  this  subject.  In  all  our  diplomatic  correspondence,  in  the  comments  of 
the  press  of  the  United  States  and  of  Europe,  the  war  has  been  constantly  spoken  of 
as  one  between  Chili  and  Peru,  and  the  implied  slight  had,  in  Bolivian  public  opin- 
ion, been  aggravated  by  the  fact  that  Bolivia  was,  in  the  protocol,  referred  to  only  in 
the  most  casual  manner.  This  feeling  wa,s  sensibly  diminished  by  the  fact  that  you 
had,  on  leaving  Chili,  at  once  sent  me  to  La  Paz,  being  unable  at  that  time  to  make 
the  journey  in  person,  as  I  took  care  to  explain  to  Senor  Zilveti. 

Second.  While  the  war  has,  up  to  this  time,  not  been  carried  on  within  the  limits  of 
Bolivia,  and  she  has  for  this  reason  suffered,  in  comparison  with  her  ally,  but  slight  di- 
rect injury,  yet  it  is  of  very  great  importance  to  the  country  that  either  a  truce  or  peace 
should  be  made,  as  speedily  as  possible.  Business  is  at  a  stand-still;  exports  from  the 
country,  which  were  for  a  time  entirely  suspended,  are  now  permitted  by  the  Chilian 
authorities  only  upon  payment  of  onerous  duties,  and  imports  are,  I  think,  still,  or  at 
all  events  were  very  recently,  absolutely  prohibited.  As  the  government  depends  for 
the  greater  portion  of  its  reVenues  upon  foreign  commerce,  and  as,  owing  to  the  state 
of  war,  a  larger  army  than  usual  is  now  being  maintained,  the  taxation  is  necessarily 
increased,  and  this  naturally  tends  to  produce  irritation  ;  the  danger  of  revolution 
(always  great)  is  enhanced,  and  the  continuance  of  orderly  government  imperiled.  The 
war  has,  however,  taught  the  Bolivians  (if  such  a  lesson  can  be  learned  in  so  short  a 
time  as  has  elapsed  since  the  downfall  of  Daza,  and  if  I  am  to  believe  the  statements 
of  Senor  Zilveti)  that  constitutional  and  honest  government  is  a  possibility,  and  the 
men  who  are  truly  patriotic,  and  who  desire  a  well  established  state,  profess  themsel  Vea 
as  being  greatly  encouraged  by  the  present  public  feeling  in  Bolivia. 

Third.  Should  it  prove  impossible  to  save  her  present  littoral  (thejarovince  of  Ata- 
cama) to  Bolivia,  and  I  do  not  see  how  this  can  be  done — and  if,  as  Senor  Del  Valle  and 
as  other  prominent  Peruvians  with  whom  I  have  conversed  think,  Peru  is  not  willing 


42  AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

to  sell  or  exchange  for  other  territory  a  portion  of  her  sea-coast— if,  in  short,  as  the 
result  of  the  war,  Bolivia  is  to  be  altogether  shut  out  from  the  Pacific,  then  the  years 
of  Bolivia's  existence  as  an  independent  nation  are  few  in  number.  It  is  true  that 
Bolivia  might  find  an  outlet  for  a  large  part  of  her  products,  and  perhaps  an  inlet  for 
imports  by  the  river  Amazon  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  but  for  this  a  large  expenditure 
of  money  in  the  construction  of  railways  and  the  deepening  of  rivers  and  the  lapse  of 
many  years  for  the  completion  of  the  undertaking  is  necessary ;  even  then  hsr  com- 
merce in  going  to  and  from  the  ocean  must  pass  through  other  countries,  and  those 
countries  may  see  fit  to  impose  vexatious  duties,  and  impose  other  restrictions  upon 
her  trade,  which  would  seriously  hamper  if  not  destroy  it.  Nor,  supposing  this  un- 
tru^,  are  the  financial  resources  or  public  credit  of  Bolivia  e'qual  to  this  undertaking; 
and  it  is  more  than  probable  that  before  its  completion,  surrounding  states,  covetous 
of  her  territory,  would  have  secured  her  partition. 

Moreover,  the  geographical  position  of  Bolivia  requires,  in  any  event,  an  outlet  upon 
the  Pacific.  I  am  aware  that  for  many  years  her  commerce  has  not  sought  ingress 
and  egress  by  way  of  her  own  sea-coast.  The  ports  of  Mollendo  and  Arica  have  of- 
fered superior  advantages,  but  Atacama  has  proved  a  valuable  check  upon  Peru,  and 
has  prevented  her  from  seriously  overtaxing  Bolivian  imports  and  exports,  fearful  lest, 
should  she  do  so,  the  country's  trade  would  desert  Molleudoeand  Arica  and  find  refuge 
in  Autofogasta  and  the  other  sea-ports  of  Bolivia.  Compacts  and  agreements  were 
made  between  the  two  countries,  by  which  a  certain  portion  of  the  revenues  collected 
from  Bolivian  goods  at  Peruvian  ports  was  to  be  paid  to  the  former  country.  At  the 
outbreak  of  the  war,  Peru  owed  Bolivia  on  this  account  more  than  four  hundred  thou- 
sand silver  roles  (Peruvian  dollars).  This  fact  serves  to  show  how  unsatisfactory  in 
the  past,  and  how  probably  unsatisfactory  in  the  future,  would  be  any  commercial 
treaties  giving  to  Bolivia  only  outlet  and  inlet  through  Peru. 

Without  considering  the  question  as  to  whether  it  is  best  for  the  interests  of  the 
United  States  and  of  the  world  that  the  nationality  of  Bolivia  should  be  preserved,  I 
venture  to  express  the  opinion  that  the  most  feasible  way  by  which,  at  the  present 
time,  her  dismemberment  can  be  avoided  is  by  a  strong  and  effective  confederation  be- 
tween Peru  and  Bolivia,  preserving  to  each  an  independent  national  existence,  but 
making  such  an  identity  of  interest  as  shall  render  imperative  the  strict  fulfillment 
of  any  obligations  and  treaties  into  which  they  may  enter.  It  seems  to  me  that  the 
self-interest  of  those  countries  would  tend  to  such  an  end.  Peru  fears  gradual  ab- 
sorption of  her  territory  by  Chili ;  Bolivia  fears  her  own  dismemberment  by  and  divis- 
ion among  surrounding  nations.  Traditions  and  natural  national  jealousies  would 
render  impossible  any  close  union;  self-preservation  and  resultant  benefit  would 
strongly  urge  upon  each  the  course  which  I  have  suggested.  I  am  not  unaware  of 
the  fact  that  the  interest  of  Chili  would  lead  her  to  strongly  oppose  such  a  confedera- 
tion, but,  as  I  have  offered  this  merely  in  the  nature  of  personal  opinion,  and  as  you 
are  better  informed  than  myself,  and  a  better  judge  of  the  advantage'  and  practica- 
bility of  such  a  political  step,  I  do  not  consider  it  necessary  to  discuss  the  subject 
further. 

In  conclusion,  permit  me  to  observe  that  I  cannot  but  think  it  of  the  greatest  iui- 
poitance,  both  to  ourselves  and  to  the  belligerents,  that  the  United  States  should,  as 
speedily  as  practicable,  decide  what  course  it  will  take  with  regard  to  the  war  of  the 
Pacific.  It  was  most  embarrassing  not  to  be  able  to  inform  Sefior  Zilveti  and  Senor 
Carrillo  of  the  views  of  my  government,  as  I  felt  that  the  great  interests  of  Bolivia 
now  at  stake  entitled  them  to  ask  and  to  expect  a  speedy  answer,  and  I  think  that 
both  for  our  own  prestige  and  as  a  matter  of  justice,  Bolivia  should  not  be  compelled 
to  wait  for  longer  time  than  is  necessary  for  a  definite  decision  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States. 

I  further  recommend  that  for  the  future  our  minister  to  Bolivia  should  be  kept  fully 
informed  as  to  the  policy  of  his  government  and  of  any  action  which  may  be  taken 
by  his  colleagues  at  Lima  and  at  Santiago.  The  unfortunately  almost  directly  con- 
tradictory official  communications  made  at  one  time  by  our  ministers  to  Chili  and  Peru 
would  have  made  the  position  of  General  Adams,  in  Bolivia,  had  he  not  fortunately 
been  absent  on  leave,  extremely  embarrassing.  Without  full  knowledge  and  concert 
of  action  on  the  part  of  our  diplomatic  representatives  any  final  settlement  by  our 
government  or  any  assistance  in  the  solution  of  this  question  is  rendered  almost  im- 
possible. 

I  have  the  honor,  &c., 

WALKER  ELAINE. 


AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  43 

[Inclosure  1  in  Ko.  4.] 
Mr.  Walker  Elaine  to  Mr.  Trescot. 

No.  1.]  SPECIAL  MISSION  or  THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA, 

Arequipa,  Peru,  March  28,  1882. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  we  arrived  in  the  harbor  of  Mollendo  on 
Sunday,  the  26th  instant,  between  two  and  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Mr. 
Cochran,  the  agent  of  the  Mollendo  and  Puno  Railway  at  that  place,  visited  the  ship 
shortly  after  onr  arrival,  and  most  kindly  placed  the  facilities  of  his  road  at  our  dis- 
position. Learning  that  General  Adams  was  at  Arequipa,  I  telegraphed  him  to  await 
me  at  that  point,  and,  in  accordance  with  arrangements  made  by  Mr.  Cochrau,  left 
Mollendo  by  special  train  at  eight  o'clock  Monday  morning,  Captain  Belknap  and 
servant,  Lieutenant  Hale  and  Dr.  Whiting,  of  the  United  States  steamer  Alaska,  ac- 
companying Mr.  Cuthbert  Trescot  and  myself.  Half  way  between  Mollendo  and 
Arequipa  we  were  met  by  General  Adams,  who  accompanied  us  to  Arequipa,  where  we 
arrived  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  On  arriving  we  were  met  by  the  adjutant 
of  Seiior  Carrillo  (now  the  representative  in  this  section  of  the  government  of  Vice- 
President  Montero),  who  accompanied  us  to  our  hotel.  This  morning  Seiior  Carrillo 
called  upon  us  in  person,  and  I  have  just  come  from  returning  his  visit.  We  have  been 
received  with  great  courtesy  and  cordiality  by  all  the  officials  of  the  government,  and 
those  connected  with  the  railway  have  very  kindly  placed  at  our  disposition  all  the 
facilities  afforded  by  theip  line. 

By  appointment,  I  tins  morning  met  Senor  Juan  C.  Carrillo  and  bad  a  long  conference 
with  him.  He  was  formerly  minister  of  foreign  affairs  of  Bolivia,  and  represented 
that  country  at  the  Arica  conference.  He  is  now  accredited  by  Bolivia  as  minister 
near  the  government  of  Peru  and  Chili,  and  is  thus  far  on  his  way  to  those  coun- 
tries. Sefior  Carrillo  began  by  saying  that  he  desired  to  speak  with  all  frankness  and 
confidence,  in  which  I  told  him  I  would  heartily  concur.  He  then  asked  General 
Adams  to  read  me  a  letter  which  he  had  on  the  twenty-fifth  instant  addressed  to  the 
general,  a  copy  and  translation  of  which  you  will  find  inclosed,  marked  inclosure  1  and 
2.  Having  listened  to  the  translation  of  the  letter  by  General  Adams,  I  replied  in 
substance  as  follows : 

•'In  order,  Seiior  Carrillo,  to  make  a  satisfactory  and  full  explanation  of  and  answer  to 
the  question  contained  in  your  letter,  I  will  begin  by  recalling  to  your  mind  that  after 
the  failure  of  the  conference  at  Arica  the  United  States  still  persisted  in  its  effort  to 
bring  about  a  peace  between  Peru,  Bolivia,  and  Chili.  As  the  instructions  given  to 
Mr.  Trescot  have  been  made  public,  I  can  refer  to  them  without  embarrassment.  From 
them  you  will  have  learned  that  the  government  of  Garcia  Calderon  was  recognized  in 
Peru  by  the  United  States,  as  the  latter  power  understood  that  such  recognition  was 
desired  by  Chili  and  would  tend  toward  the  establishment  of  peace.  After  the  said 
government  had  been  so  recognized  by  the  United  States,  Chili,  without  explanation 
and  without  notification  to  the  United  States,  arrested  Garcia  Calderon  and  carried 
him  as  prisoner  to  Chili.  You  will,  I  think,  agree  with  me  that  this  act,  thus  unex- 
plained, and  in  view  of  the  attendant  circumstances  stated  in  Mr.  Trescot's  instructions, 
might  well  iseem  like  one  of  intentional  insult  to  the  United  States.  Mr.  Trescot  was, 
therefore,  instructed  to  frankly  state  to  Chili  the  view  which  the  United  States  was 
forced  to  hold  of  this  arrest,  and  to  request  of  the  Government,  of  Chili  an  explanation. 
This  lay  at  the  threshold  of  Mr.  Trescot's  mission,  and  was  the  first  point  discussed  in 
his  interview  with  Seiior  Balmaceda.  After  this  had  been  fully  discussed,  and  Chili  had 
made  explanation  (and  I  beg  you,  sir,  to  remark  that  this  question  was  one  wholly  and 
only  concerning  Chili  and  my  government),  the  conversation  turned  upon  what  terms 
Chili  was  disposed  to  offer  to  Peru  as  a  basis  of  peace.  The  conclusions  thus  reached 
were  afterward  summarized  in  the  protocol  to  which  you  have  referred  in  your  letter. 
And  here  I  beg  you  to  observe  that  a  protocol  of  this  nature  does  not  differ  from  a  writ- 
ten memorandum  of  conversation,  not  being  in  any  sense,  as  you  seem  to  have  under- 
stood, a  contract  or  binding  agreement.  It  is  not  with  us  the  custom  to  seal  such  mem- 
oranda, but  Seiior  Balmaceda  stated  that  it  was  the  diplomatic  usage  in  South  America 
so  to  do,  and  Mr.  Trescot  assented  to  it,  observing  that  the  seal  could  add  nothing  to 
its  force." 

<l  It  will  perhaps,  however,  be  more  satisfactory  to  examine  the  protocol  itself,  which 

"  First.  The  question  of  Garcia  Calderon,  which  is  of  interest  only  to  the  United  States 
and  Chili  is  disposed  of. 

"  Second.  The  question  of  armed  intervention  (in  effect  a  declaration  of  war)  i 
within  the  province  of  diplomacy,  and  is,  therefore,  not  contemplated  by  the  mission 
of  Mr.  Trescot.     I  cannot  but  think  that  such  a  question  is  never  within  the  purview 
of  any  diplomatic  mission. 

'•Third.  The  United  States  will  offer  mediation  (which  is  almost  identical  \vith  arbi- 


44  AFFAIRS    IN   PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

tration)  only  when  conducive  to  the  good  of  all  the  belligerents,  and  when  asked  by 
all.  Chili  states  that  she  does  not  desire  it,  and  therefore  the  United  States  dcnjs  not 
offer  it. 

"Fourth.  Referring  to  the  question  of  good  offices  Chili  states  that  if  the  Uniled 
States  will  offer  them  on  the  basis  proposed  by  herself  (Chili)  all  facilities  at  her  com- 
mand in  Peru  shall  be  extended  to  Mr.  Trescot. 

"Fifth.  The  terms  on  which  Chili  will  make  peace  with  Peru  are  stated. 

"  Finally,  it  is  stated  that  Mr.  Trescot  thought  it  best  to  telegraph  to  his  government  as 
to  whether  the  good  offices  should  be  offered  on  the  conditions  named,  and  awaits  a  reply, 
which  reply,  forming  part  of  the  protocol  and  published  at  the  same  time,  is  stated  in 
Mr.  Trescot's  letter  to  Seiior  Balmaceda.  The  effect  of  this  reply,  you  will  at  once  see, 
was  to  render  the  whole  protocol  blank  paper,  for  in  any  event  and  on  any  supposition, 
but  the  first  three  articles  can  be  regarded  as  in  anv  way  binding,  and  of  these  the 
first  states  simply  a  question  which  concerns  the  United  States  and  Chili  alone,  and 
the  second  and  third  enunciate  principles  recognized  in  all  international  law.  Mr. 
Trescot  was,  therefore,  entirely  correct  when  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Adams  what  I  now  state 
to  you,  that  nothing  had  been  signed  which  in  any  way  bound  the  United  States  as 
to  its  action  in  this  matter. 

"Further,  permit  me  to  say  that  this  will  fully  explain  why  Bolivia  is  not  men- 
tioned in  the  protocol,  for  it  is  evident  that  if  the  United  States  could  not  offer  its  good 
offices  to  bring  about  peace  with  Peru  on  the  bases  pr  posed  by  Chili,  there  was  no 
need  of  discussing  the  Bolivian  question.  If  the  offer  of  Chili  with  regard  to  Pern  was 
accepted,  then  the  Bolivian  question  would  naturally  come  up  next  in  order  for  dis- 
cussion. 

"  One  matter  further :  The  United  States  has  replied  to  Mr.  Trescot's  telegram,  stat- 
ing that  she  cannot  offer  good  offices  or  take  any  part  in  bringing  about  a  peace 
based  upon  both  money  indemnification  and  a  cession  of  territory,  and  that  the  ques- 
tion as  to  the  future  action  of  the  United  States  has  been  referred  to  Congress,  and  while 
awaiting  the  decision  of  that  body  it  has  seemed  good  to  Mr.  Trescot  to  himself  go  to 
Peru  and  to  send  me  to  Bolivia,  in  order  to  ascertain  the  intentions  and  desires  of  those 
governments  with  regard  to  peace. 

"  I  ought  perhaps  to  add  that  it  was  not  intended  that  the  protocol  referred  to  should 
be  made  public,  but,  the  essential  portions  having  been  published  in  the  United  States 
by  some  mistake  (as  they  were  communicated  in  a  confidential  cipher  dispatch),  Mr. 
Trescot  did  not  consider  that  he  could  refuse  permission  to  SeTior  Balmaceda  to  publish 
the  entire  document." 

Mr.  Carrillo  therefore  replied  that  he  was  pleased  to  hear  my  explanation,  and  he 
would  state  to  me  with  frankness  and  in  confidence  what,  were  the  views  of  his  gov- 
ernment and  people.  He  said  that  they  had  been  led  to  believe  from  the  declarations 
of  Mr.  Hurlbut  in  Peru  (for  during  the  time  Mr.  Adams  was  absent  from  Bolivia)  that 
the  United  States  would  not,  in  any  event,  permit  peace  upon  the  basis  of  annex- 
ation of  territory,  and  that  Bolivia  had  patiently  awaited  the  result  of  the  influ- 
ence of  the  United  States,  not  expecting  a  forcible  intervention1,  but  led  to  believe 
that  our  government  would  lend  its  moral  influence,  as  it  had  done  with  so  much  effect 
in  the  case  of  Mexico;  that  after  his  return  to  Bolivia,  in  the  early  part  of  January 
last,  Mr.  Adams  had  informed  the  government  of  the  mission  of  Mr.  Treseot,  and  had 
requested,  to  which  the  government  had  cheerfully  acceded,  that  pending  the  result 
of  your  negotiations  in  Santiago  things  might  remain  in  statu  quo ;  that  just  about 
this  time  Senor  Baptista  had  been  sent  as  delegate  from  Bolivia  to  the  proposed  congress 
in  Central  America,  and  that  secret  instructions  had  been  given  him  to  converse,  while 
on  his  journey,  with  any  men  of  prominence  with  whom  he  might  meet  in  Chili  or 
Peru,  that  he  might  inform  the  Government  of  Bolivia  as  to  the  views  of  these  countries 
with  regard  to  peace ;  that  at  Tacna,  Seiior  Baptista  had  met  Senor  Lillo,  who,  on  behalf 
ot  Chili,  had  proposed  that  peace  should  be  made  between  his  government  and  Bolivia, 
to  which  Senor  Baptista  replied  that  his  government  would  not  make  peace,  save  afier 
consultation  with  and  with  the  approval  of  Peru,  and  had  suggested,  speaking  for  him- 
self, that  it  seemed  best  to  make  a  truce  rather  than  a  peace;  that  conferences  had 
been  held,  and  that  certain  conclusions,  subject  to  the  approval  of  his  government, 
had  been  assented  to  by  Senor  Baptista,  but  that  the  Government  of  Bolivia,  would  never 
have  agreed  to  peace,  even  with  the  consent  of  Peru,  and  this  independent  of  auv  sug- 
gestion or  request  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Adams.  He  also  gave  me  to  understand  that 
Chili  had  offered  to  cede  Tacna,  Arica,  and  Pisagua  to  Bolivia  (all  this  territory  being 
Peruvian),  in  exchange  for  Atacama.  Further  continuing,  Senor  Carrillo  said  that  we 
could  not  regard  it  as  strange,  in  view  of  the  attitude  of  the  United  States,  if  Bolivia 
felt  that  the  time  had  arrived  when  it  was  wise  for  her  to  make  the  best  terms  possible 
for  herself  and  by  herself,  supposing  that  the  United  States  had  finally  withdrawn  from 
the  question. 

I  replied  that  I  did  not  understand  that  the  United  States  had  as  yet  definitely  de- 
cided its  future  policy,  and  requested  him  to  state  to  me  the  intentions  of  Bolivia. 

In  answer,  he  said  that  he  would  state  them  frankly,  but  begged  that  his  views 


AFFAIRS    IN   PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  45 

might  be  regarded  as  personal  and  confidential.  He  said  that,  first,  it  might  be  ad- 
vantageous to  consider  that  the  same  results  could  be  brought  about,  without  offendiu<>- 
either  Peru  or  Bolivia,  by  a  careful  use  of  language.  For  example,  Bolivia  could  cede 
territory  to  Chili,  provided  it  was  regarded  as  in  lieu  of  a  money  indemnity,  and  not 
as  a  right  of  conquest ;  for  to  affirm  the  latter  proposition  to  be  a  recognized  principle 
would,  in  effect,  place  the  territory  of  Bolivia  at  the  mercy  of  any  nation  stronger  than 
herself,  rather  than  do  which  she  would  prefer  the  immediate  termination  of  a  national 
existence.  I  replied  that  I  thought  that  I  could  safely  affirm  that  my  government  would 
never  take  part  in  any  negotiation  for  peace  which  recognized  cession  of  territory,  with- 
out any  other  consideration,  as  the  legitimate  result  of  victory  in  war.  He  then  added 
that  it  was  absolutely  essential  to  Bolivia  to  have  a  free  and  independent  outlet  and 
inlet  upon  the  Pacific,  the  reasons  for  which  he  detailed,  but  which  it  is  not  necessary 
for  me  now  to  repeat.  With  these  considerations  as  premises,  he  thought  his  govern- 
ment would  make  peace  on  the  following  conditions  : 

1st.  Recognizing  indemnization  as  the  right  of  the  victor  in  war. 

•2d.  The  indemnity  due  from  Bolivia  to  Chili  shall  be  fixed  at  a  definite  sum,  and 
in  default  of  payment,  Chili  shall  be  allowed  to  take  Atacama ;  the  fact  shall  also  be 
recognized  that,  as  a  result  of  the  war,  a  newdemarkation  of  boundaries  between  the 
three  nations  has  become  necessary,  and  that  the  natural  affinity  of  Atacama  to  Chili, 
arising  from  population  and  proximity,  may  be  regarded  in  settling  the  demarkatiou. 

3d.  Bolivia  desires,  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  a  port  upon  the  Pacific,  to  make  an 
independent  treaty  with  Peru  by  which,  in  exchange  for  Tacna  and  Arica,  she  would 
give  the  province  of  Caupolicau,  bordering  upon  Lake  Titicaca  and  contiguous  to  Peru, 
and  possibly  would  assume  a  portion  of  her  debt  or  pay  an  additional  compensation 
in  money,  the  details  to  be  hereafter  arranged  between  the  two  countries. 

Reverting  to  previous  conversation,  Senor  Carrillo  then  inquired  as  to  what  I  thought 
would  be  the  attitude  of  my  government  upon  the  question. 

I  told  him  that  I  could  not  form  an  opinion  ;  that  it  was  within  the  bounds  of  possi- 
bility that  Congress,  to  which  body  I  understood  that  the  question  had  been  referred, 
might  decide  to  withdraw  altogether,  or  to  intervene  with  effect ;  that  I  had  no  infor- 
mation or  intimation  on  which  to  predicate  an  opinion  ;  that,  possibly,  so  indefinite  a 
reply  might  be  somewhat  embarrassing  to  his  government,  but  that  a  definite  decision 
would,  in  all  probability,  be  reached  by  the  United  States  in  a  short  time,  and  that  it 
did  not  seem  to  me  that  a  maintenance  of  affairs  in  statu  quo  for  a  limited  period 
could  seriously  hamper  or  prove  detrimental  to  Bolivia. 

In  this  he  concurred  and  informed  me  that  he  was  accredited  both  to  Chili  and  Peru, 
and,  for  the  purpose  of  conferring  with  you  and  with  the  government  of  Peru,  would 
gladly  at  once  proceed  to  Lima,  but  was  prevented  from  doing  so  for  certain  reasons. 
(See  my  dispatch  numbered  2.)  He  also  said  that  he  was  empowered  by  his  govern- 
ment, on  the  understanding  that  the  United  States  had  entirely  withdrawn  from  the 
question,  to  request  the  aid  of  the  Argentine  Republic,  Brazil,  or  any  other  American 
power,  and  failing  in  this  to  request  the  intervention  of  Europe,  and  inquired  of  me 
what  opinion  my  government  would  entertain  of  the  latter  course. 

I  replied  that'the  traditional  policy  of  the  United  States  had  ever  viewed  with  dis- 
favor European  intervention  upon  this  hemisphere,  and  that  unless  this  policy  had 
been  radically  overturned  (of  which  I  was  not  informed),  it  could  not  but  view  such 
a  step  with  disfavor.  This  was  the  substance  of  our  conversation. 

I  inquired  of  Seuor  Carrillo  as  to  whether  I  was  at  liberty  to  refer  to  it  in  the  confer- 
ence which  I  hope  to  have  in  La  Paz  with  Senor  Zilveti,  Bolivian  minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  to  which  he  replied  that,  though  he  did  not  doubt  that  I  would  find  Senor  Zil- 
veti's  opinions  to  be  identical,  he  preferred  that  the  latter  should  express  them  volun- 
tarily and  spontaneously.  I  therefore  take  advantage  of  the  mail,  which  I  am 
informed  leaves  to-morrow  for  Callao.  to  send  this  for  your  guidance  and  information, 
and  will  report  further  after  my  return  from  La  Paz. 

I  have  concluded  to  go  thither,  and  shall  leave  for  Puno  at  six  o'clock  to-morrow 
morning.  I  have  made  arrangements  which  will,  I  trust,  bring  me  to  Molleudo  on 
Monday  or  Tuesday  next,  and  shall  join  you  in  Lima  as  quickly  as  possible.  It  seems 
to  mo  to  be  more  respectful  to  proceed  to  the  Bolivian  capital,  and  1  cannot  but  think 
it  extremely  doubtful  as  to  whether  you  will  personally  be  able  to  go  there. 

There  are  some  incidental  questions  as  to  the  effect  of  the  Balmaceda  protocol  in 
Bolivia  and  other  matters  touched  upon  in  our  conversation,  to  which  1  do  not  now 
deem  it  necessary  to  refer,  but  which  I  will  hereafter  explain  to  you,  either  orally  or 
in  writing. 

I  have  written  hastily,  but  I  trust  I  have  made  myself  intelligible,  and  that  what  I 
said  and  its  results  may  meet  with  your  approval. 

1  am'  &C''  WALKER  BLAINE. 


46  AFFAIRS    IX    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

[Inclosure  2  in  No.  1. — Translation.] 
Senor  Carrillo  to  Mr.  Adams. 

LEGATION  OF  BOLIVIA, 
Arequipa,  March  25,  1882. 

SIR:  The  undersigned, Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  Bolivia 
accredited  near  the  Government  of  Peru,  is  informed  of  the  early  arrival  of  Mr.  Walker 
Blaiue  at  the  port  of  Mollendo,  charged  with  a  special  mission  from  the  United  States, 
in  order  to  have  an  interview  with  Your  Excellency,  and,  as  the  distance  prevents  the 
Government  of  Bolivia  from  taking  advantage  of  this  opportunity  to  obtain  some  data 
necessary  to  the  development  of  its  policy,  the  undersigned  takes  the  liberty  of  asking 
Your  Excellency  to  please  to  make  clear  in  the  said  interview  the  points  contained  in 
this  letter. 

In  the  protocol  of  the  llth  of  February  last,  signed  by  the  Chilian  minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs  and  His  Excellency  Mr.  W.  H.  Trescot,  Special  Envoy  Extraordinary  and 
Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  of  America,  it  is  stated  that  "  the  me- 
diation (of  the  United  States)  does  not  conform  to  the  convenience  of  the  belligerents, 
nor  is  it  solicited  by  Chili,"  and  it  is  added  that,  eliminating  from  all  discussion  the 
possibility  of  armed  intervention,  the  United  States  "  will  offer  its  mediation  only  in 
case  that  the  belligerents  shall  manifest  a  desire  of  obtaining  it,  and  when  its  accept- 
ance will  conduce  to  results  satisfactory  to  both."  At  the  same  time  it  is  declared,  in 
the  third  clause,  that  the  mediation  of  the  United  States  is  a  point  eliminated  from  all  dis- 
cussion and  definitely  concluded. 

Notwithstanding  that  the  allied  governments  have  shown  by  their  official  acts  a  re- 
spectful deference  to  the  conciliatory  policy  of  the  United  States,  confiding  in  its  effica- 
cious influence  for  the  restoration  of  peace,  the  declaration  just  recited  leads  one  to 
consider  that  the  new  action  upon  which  the  government  of  Your  Excellency  entered, 
after  the  conference  at  Arica,  in  the  present  international  conflict  upon  the  Pacific,  is 
definitely  ended  and  withdrawn. 

This  consideration  and  the  fact  that  no  mention  is  made  of  the  republic  of  Bolivia 
in  the  conference  at  Santiago,  nor  in  the  agreement  signed  at  Vina  del  Mar,  notwith- 
standing that,  in  consequence  of  the  declarations  made  by  your  excellency  in  your  re- 
spectful note  of  the  10th  of  January  last,  addressed  to  the  Bolivian  cabinet,  all  action 
was  suspended  until  the  result  of  the  mission  of  Mr.  Trescot  should  be  made  known, 
have  determined  the  undersigned  to  interest  Your  Excellency  in  order  that,  in  your  ap- 
proaching interview  with  Mr.  Blaine,  the  reasons  may,  so  far  as  possible,  be  made  clear 
why  Bolivia  was  not  mentioned  in  the  matters  already  referred  to,  and  at  the  same 
time  a  declaration  may  be  obtained  as  to  the  true  meaning  and  extent  of  the  conclu- 
sions of  the  aforesaid  protocol  relative  to  the  mediation  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  with  regard  to  the  three  belligerent  nations.  The  undersigned  does  not 
doubt  that  Your  Excellency  will  entertain  the  present  suggestion,  as  it  will  show  the 
Government  of  Bolivia  another  proof  of  that  delicate  attention  which  Your  Excellency 
has  shown  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  your  «high  office. 

With  every  consideration,  &c.. 

JOAN  C.  CARRILLO. 


[Inclosure  3  in  No.  4.    Translation  of  inclosure  2.] 
(Private  copy.) 

MINISTRY  OF  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS  OF  BOLIVIA. 

In  the  city  of  La  Paz,  on  the  1st  of  April,  1882,  in  accordance  with  an  agreement 
made  the  previous  day,  Mr.  Walker  Blaine  with  General  Adams,  minister  resident  of 
the  United  States,  met  Doctor  Pedro  Jos4  Zilveti,in  the  office  of  the  minister  of  foreign 
affairs  for  Bolivia.  The  Minister  commenced  by  asking  Mr.  Blaine  what  character  they 
would  give  to  the  interview,  to  which  he  replied  that  he  had  instructions  from  the 
Plenipotentiary,  Mr.  Trescot,  to  ascertain  the  opinions  and  intentions  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  Bolivia,  and  that  the  conference  would,  therefore,  be  enthvly  confidential. 

Senor  Zilveti  having  signified  his  wish  to  know  the  extent  and  importance  of  the  proto- 
col of  February  llth,  signed  by  Messrs.  Trescot  and  Balmaceda,  Mr.  Elaine  made  the 
same  statements  that  he  did,  in  reference  to  this  matter,  in  his  interview  of  March  28th 
with  Senor  Carrillo,  stating,  therefore,  as  a  conclusion,  that  there  was  entire  freedom  of 
action  for  American  diplomacy,  in  conformity  with  the  friendly  character  of  its  rela- 
tions towards  the  three  belligerent  nations.  Senor  Zilveti  was  permitted  to  ask  Mr.  Blaine 
what  position  the  United  States  would  take  if  Chili  persisted  in  demanding  the  condi- 
tions of  peace  set  forth  in  the  protocol  of  the  llth  of  February,  which  on  the  part  of 
Bolivia  are  absolutely  inadmissible.  The  reply  was  as  follows  :  The  government  of  the: 
United  States  sincerely  desires  the  cessation  of  the  ,-icrual  war,  but  does  not  find  itself 
in  a  position  to  itself  assume  a  warlike  attitude,  because  it  does  not  desire  to  make 


AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  47 

war,  nor  do  the  American  people  desire  it ;  that  for  this  reason,  if  the  indicated  con- 
ditions were  not  modified  and  the  demand  of  cession  of  territory  were  maintained  by 
Chili  as  the  right  of  a  conqueror  and  as  a  condition,  sine  qua  non,  of  a  settlement,  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  could  do  nothing  more  than  to  retire  completely. 
(See  foot  note.)  Senor  Zilveti  replied  that  he  did  not  think  that  the  point  could  be 
reached.  That  the  United  States  would  have  to  declare  war  against  Chili,  because  one 
determined  word  from  the  foimer  government  would  suffice  to  bring  the  conqueror  to 
reason  and  make  him  consent  to  an  equitable  and  satisfactory  arrangement.  He  called 
attention,  besides,  to  the  fact  that  the  retirement  of  the  United  States  in  such  a  case 
would  make  worse  the  condition  of  the  allies  and  make  another  victory  for  Chili. 

Sefior  Zilveti,  being  asked  upon  what  base  Bolivia  would  enter  into  an  arrangement 
for  the  cessation  of  the  present  war  which  causes  so  much  injury  to  the  belligerents, 
replied,  that,  according  to  the  conditions  imposed  by  Chili,  it  would  amount  to  a  per- 
petual closing  in  of  Bolivia,  its  deprivation  of  every  outlet  upon  the  Pacific,  and  its 
consequent  death ;.  that  Bolivia  could  accept  no  such  arrangement,  preferring  to  in- 
definitely maintain  a  defensive  attitude;  but  that,  in  his  opinion,  a  preliminary  ar- 
rangement for  peace  might  be  made,  recognizing  the  right  to  a  just  indemnity,  the 
mode  and  payment  of  which  would  be  matter  for  a  future  international  contract,  the 
express  declaration  being  made  that  the  right  of  conquest  was  not  recognized,  and 
that  this  must  be  done  without  impairing  the  loyalty  which  Bolivia  owes  Peru,  in 
accordance  with  their  treaty  of  alliance. 

Referring  to  the  case  of  an  absolute  impossibility  of  arriving  at  any  definite  agree- 
ment, and  of  the  wisdom  of  stipulating  for  an  armistice  or  temporary  truce,  Mr.  B  aiue 
asked  on  what  conditions  Bolivia  would  accept  it.  Senor  Zilveti  replied  that  he  could 
not  say  with  certainty  what  these  conditions  would  be,  but,  as  his  own  private  opinion, 
he  might  say  that,  in  the  event  of  treating  for  a  truce  jointly  with  Peru,  the  war  occu- 
pation should  be  limited  to  the  department  of  Tarapaca"  and  the  littoral  of  Bolivia,  a 
neutral  zone  should  be  determined,  liberty  and  necessary  guarantees  given  that  Peru, 
may  be  organized  in  a  stable  manner,  and  liberty  of  commerce  accorded  to  Bolivia, 
through  its  own  and  Peruvian  ports,  in  accordance  with  the  existing  treaties  between 
the  two  nations.  Senor  Zilveti  having  asked  if  it  was  true  that  Mr.  Trescot,  in  his  special 
mission,  expected  new  instructions  from  his  government,  and  if  they  would  be  soon 
communicated,  Mr.  Elaine  replied  that  they  were  actually  expected,  but  that  they 
could  not  be  given  until  after  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  to  which  the  ques- 
tion had  been  submitted  for  its  consideration,  should  have  passed  upon  it,  and  that  he 
thought  it  improbable  that  this  would  be  done  immediately,  since  to  obtain  some  ex- 
act information  Mr.  Hurlbut  had  been  summoned  home,  and  was  to  leave  Lima  on  the 
6th  of  April. 

Referring  to  the  mission  of  Senor  Carrillo,  with  whom  Mr.  Blaine  had  conversed  in 
Arequipa,  Senor  Zilveti  stated  that  if  Chili  sincerely  wished  to  enter  into  an  arrange- 
ment leading  to  a  solution  of  the  present  conflict,  she  would  give  Senor  Carrillo  a 
passport  and  the  necessary  guarantees  that  he  might  put  himself  in  a  communication 
with  the  Government  of  Peru,  to  which  he  has  been  accredited.  Mr.  Blaine  said  that 
he  thought  so  too,  and  had,  on  his  'part,  addressed  Mr.  Trescot  from  Arequipa,  recom- 
mending him  to  obtain  from  the  Chilian  authorities  all  the  guarantees  wished  for,  that 
Senor  Carrillo  might  proceed  to  the  fulfillment  of  his  mission. 

Heje  the  confidential  interview,  of  which  this  is  a  brief  summary,  ended. 

Approved. 

JENARO  SANJINES, 
Chief  Clerk  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

NOTE.— The  statement  made  by  me  was  that,  in  the  present  complicated  condition 
of  affairs,  Chili  would  not  yield  her  claim  to  the  cession  of  Tarapaca",  unless  compelled 
to  do  so  by  a  manifestation  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  of  a  purpose  to  force  her 
to  that  determination ;  that  neither  the  people  nor  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  had  ever  contemplated  the  possibility  of  assuming  a  warlike  attitude. 

W.  BLAINE. 


NO.  37. 

Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 
[Telegram.] 

LIMA,  May  12,  1882. 
FRELiNGrHUYSEN,  Washington  : 

Will  leave  upon  the  Lackawanna  on  14th,  Panama  24th.    Admiral  of 
the  fleet  requests  vou  will  inform  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

TRESCOT. 


48  AFFAIRS    IN   PERU,    CHILI.    AND    BOLIVIA. 

No.  38. 
Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  26.]  SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

IN  SOUTH  AMERICA, 
Washington,  Z>.  0.,  June  5,  1882. 

SIR  :  In  dispatch  ]STo.  24,  dated  Lima,  May  3,  1882,  I  inclosed  an  ac- 
count of  my  interviews  with  Senor  Alvarez,  the  Peruvian  Secretary  for 
Foreign  Affairs,  and  the  letter  which  in  consequence  I  addressed  to  the 
Chilian  Government. 

The  purpose  of  that  letter  was  to  urge  upon  the  Chilian  Government 
the  acceptance  of  the  preliminary  conditions  which  the  Peruvian  Gov- 
ernment thought  necessary  to  the  initiation  of  a  serious  negotiation  for 
peace. 

The  conditions  were: 

1.  That  General  Montero  should  be  recognized  as  the  executive  head 
of  an  actual  government. 

2.  That,  under  the  provisions  of  a  short  truce,  he  should  be  afforded 
the  opportunity  to  convene  the  National  Congress  at  Arequipa,  in 
order  that  he  might  receive  from  it  the  authority  necessary  for  the  con- 
clusion of  a  peace.    . 

My  reasons  for  the  representation  made  to  the  Chilian  Government 
in  this  connection  have  been  so  fully  stated  in  my  dispatch  to  the  De- 
partment, and  in  the  communication  to  the  Chilian  Government,  that 
they  need  not  now  be  repeated. 

It  only  remains  for  me  to  state  what  consideration  has  so  far  been 
given  to  the  proposed  conditions. 

For  reasons  which  have  been  stated  in  former  dispatches,  I  was 
obliged  to  leave  Lima  before  my  communication  in  its  formal  shape 
could  reach  the  Chilian  Government  at  Santiago.  But  that  government 
has  in  Lima  a  diplomatic  representative  in  the  person  of  Senor  Novoa, 
who  is  authorized  to  consider  any  propositions  tending  to  a  negotiation 
for  peace. 

The  whole  subject  was  fully  discussed^with  him  and  General  Lynch, 
the  military  commander  of  the  Chilian  army  of  occupation,  and  the  prop- 
ositions, with  the  substance  of  the  conference,  were  telegraphed  by 
Seiior  Novoa  to  his  government. 

I  do  not  regard  the  telegraphic  reply  which  was  communicated  by 
Senor  Novoa  as  conclusive.  My  dispatches  had  not  yet  reached  the 
Chilian  Government,  and  I  think  it  clear  that  the  bare  statement  of 
the  propositions  had  not  put  the  Chilian  Government  in  full  possession 
of  the  considerations  which  recommended  their  adoption.  I  have  other 
reasons  for  believing  that  the  question  is  still  an  open  one. 

The  reply  of  the  Government  of  Chili,  as  communicated  by  Seiior 
Novoa,  intimated : 

1.  That  as  no  active  military  operations  were  being  conducted  by  the 
Chilian  army,  there  were  was  no  apparent  necessity  for  a  truce.  But  it  is 
obvious  that,  as  Arequipa  is  open  at  any  moment  to  occupation  by  the 
Chilian  troops  from  Mollendo,  the  Peruvian  Congress  would  naturally 
and  properly  require  some  guaranteethat  its  deliberations  should  be  free 
and  uninterrupted.  A  repetition  of  the  dissolution  of  Congress  because 
its  deliberations  were  not  agreeable  to  the  Chilian  Government,  is  a  con- 
tingency which  the  Congress,  in  view  of  the  past,  could  scarcely  dis- 
regard, "and  which  would  make  any  effort  at  negotiation  only  another 
unfortunate  failure.  Beside  which,  if  there  are,  and  are  to  be,  no  active 


AFFAIRS    IN   PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  49 

military  operations,  there  can  be  no  possible  danger  or  inconvenience  to 
Chili  in  giving  such  a  condition  of  things  the  sanction  of  a  formal 
agreement  by  a  short  notice. 

2.  While  the  Chilian  Government  desired  peace,  it  was  unwilling  to 
enter  upon  negotiation  without  distinct  agreement  in  advance  of  the 
terms  which  must  be  accepted.  It  was  dissatisfied  with  the  experience 
of  its  former  attempts  at  negotiation  with  the  Calderon  government 
and  was  indisposed  to  renew  the  effort  without  the  certainty  of  a  suc- 
cessful result.  It  was  willing,  therefore,  to  negotiate  informally  with 
General  Montero,  and  upon  the  signature  of  satisfactory  preliminaries 
would  recognize  the  existence  of  the  Peruvian  Government,  jwn  passu, 
with  the  execution  of  the  treaty. 

But  the  Congress  which  had  authorized  General  Montero  to  negotiate 
had  expressly  forbidden  any  cession  of  territory,  and  it  was,  therefore, 
simply  impossible  for  General  Montero  to  sign  a  treaty  containing  such 
provisions.  After  some  discussion  Seiior  Novoa  expressed  his  willing- 
ness to  accept  a  preliminary  agreement  by  which  General  Montero  would 
.bind  himself  to  submit  for  approval,  to  the  national  Congress,  such  a 
treaty  as  he  and  Seilor  Novoa  could  agree  upon,  and  to  recognize  General 
Montero's  government  upon  the  execution  of  such  an  instrument.  This 
would  have  afforded  an  opportunity  for  the  opening  of  negotiations, 
.  but  Seilor  Novoa  added  the  limitation  that  if  the  Congress  did  not  ap- 
prove the  treaty  so  submitted,  the  recognition  would  be  withdrawn. 
This  was  simply  an  impossible  condition.  The  recognitiou  of  the  Mon- 
tero government  had  to  be  positive.  If  Congress  failed  to  approve, 
Chili  could  still  prosecute  the  war  until  Peru  was  compelled  to  accept 
her  terms,  but  such  a  contingent  recognition  was  in  fact  only  the  old  pro- 
position of  a  treaty  before  recognition  in  another  and  much  more  illogi- 
cal and  embarrassing  shape.  Seftor  Novoa  was  willing  to  adopt  another 
method.  He  would  sign  a  treaty  with  General  Montero  to  be  sub- 
mitted and  approved  by  the  municipalities,  that  is,  by  the  local  authori- 
ties of  the  separate  provinces.  Such  a  method  was  entirely  beyond 
General  Montero's  constitutional  powers  and  would,  I  think,  have  led 
to  the  renewal  of  the  differences  between  the  various  parties  in  Peru, 
who,  accepting  General  Montero  as  the  legitimate  representative  of  the 
government,  would  acquiesce  in  the  regular  action  of  the  Executive 
and  Congress. 

As  Sefior  Novoa  was  either  indisposed  or  unauthorized  to  move  out 
of  this  vicious  circle,  our  conferences  terminated. 

I  regret  this  the  more  as  I  think  the  propositions  offered  a  fair  pros- 
pect of  a  serious  negotiation.  Chili  cannot  obtain  a  peace  which  will 
give  sanction  and  title  to  her  acquisition  of  territory  without  the  recog- 
nition of  a  legitimate  government  in  Peru.  Without  a  treaty  with  such 
authority  the  acquisition  will  be  simply  one  of  force  to  be  maintained 
as  it  has  been  acquired.  The  recognition  of  General  Montero's  govern- 
ment will  place  upon  him,  and  upon  the  people  of  Peru,  the  responsi- 
bility of  making  or  rejecting  peace  while  the  calling  of  Congress  will 
afford  the  opportunity  to  those  who  desire  peace  to  do  what  they  can- 
not do  under  present  circumstances ;  organize  a  party  which  can  exert 
its  influence  directly,  effectively,  and  legitimately  in  the  Congress 
itself. 

But  I  cannot  with  justice  conclude  this  dispatch  without  saying  that 
I  believe  the  reason  which  induces  the  hesitation  of  Chili  is  that  she 
believes  that,  so  long  as  the  Peruvians  are  convinced  that  the  United 
States  will  finally  intervene,  they  never  will  negotiate  in  earnest. 
S.  Ex.  181 4 


50  AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

It  is  unquestionably  true  that  the  Peruvian  Government  does  believe 
that  the  United  States  will  intervene ;  at  any  rate  they  consider  that 
the  question  of  intervention,  as  one  of  their  leading  officials  expressed 
it  to  rne,  was  still  a  pending  question. 

It  is  obvious  that  neither  Chili  nor  Peru  will  approach  the  solution 
of  their  difficulties  in  the  proper  spirit,  or  with  any  hope  of  a  result 
satisfactory  to  both,  as  long  as  this  impression  lasts. 

If  the  United  States  intend  to  intervene  effectively  to  prevent  the 
disintegration  of  Peru,  the  time  has  come  when  that  intention  should  be 
avowed.  If  it  does  not,  still  more  urgent  is  the  necessity  that  Chili 
and  Peru  should  understand  exactly  where  the  action  of  the  United 
States  ends.  It  would  be  entirely  beyond  my  duty  to  discuss  the 
character  or  the  consequences  of  either  line  of  conduct,  but  I  trust  that 
you  will  not  deem  that  I  am  going  beyond  that  duty  in  impressing  upon 
the  government  that  the  present  position  of  the  United  States  is  an 
embarrassment  to  all  the  belligerents,  and  that  it  should  be  terminated 
as  promptly  as  possible. 

There  is  another  conviction  which  it  is  clearly  my  duty  to  express. 
I  believe  that  whenever  the  United  States  formally  withdraws  from 
further  intervention  Peru  will  apply  to  the  European  powers,  and 
that  a  joint  intervention  of  two  or  more  is  probable.  It  is  not  for  me 
to  anticipate  what  view  the  Department  will  take  of  such  a  possibility. 
I  have,  &c., 

WM.  HENRY  TRESCOT. 


No.  39. 
Mr.  Trescot  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  27.]  SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

IN  SOUTH  AMERICA, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  June  10,  1882. 

SIR  :  I  herewith  inclose  a  copy  of  a  communication  just  received  from 
Senor  Alvarez,  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs  of  the  Provisional  Gov- 
ernment of  Peru,  and  have  the  honor  to  be  your  obedient  servant, 

WM.  HENRY  TRESCOT. 

[Inclosure  in  No.  27.— Translation.] 

HUARAZ,  May  10,  1882. 

Mr.  MINISTER  :  The  representatives  of  Your  Excellency's  government  in  Peru,  and 
those  of  the  government  of  this  country,  have  on  various  occasions  informed  your  gov- 
ernment of  the  cruelty  and  the  act  of  vandalism  with  which  the  Chilian  forces  carry 
on  hostilities  against  our  defenseless  people.  The  recital  of  a  portion  of  these  acts  of 
barbarity  has  now  been  published,  being  contained  in  the  volume  of  official  documents 
published  by  Your  Excellency's  government,  in  relation  to  the  war  on  the  Pacific  coast. 
The  Hon.  Mr.  Christiancy,  in  giving  an  account  of  these  acts,  refers  to  them  with 
deep  emotion.  I  will  quote  a  few  passages  from  his  coinnianications : 

il  Last  week  a  Chilian  force  of  from  two  to  three  thousand  men  marched  from  Ilo  to 
Mollendo,  and  with  some  marines  who  were  near,  or  who  arrived  there  about  that 
time,  they  completely  burned,  sacked,  and  destroyed  the  town,  railway  and  railway 
station,  wantonly  destroying  the  lives  of  peaceable  inhabitants." 

"  The  orders  given  by  the  Chilian  Government  to  their  fleet  to  destroy  all  the  Peru- 
vian ports  can  hardly  be  carried  out  without  great  inhumanity  and  even  barbarity, 
and  that  towards  neutrals."  (March  23,  1880,  page  325.) 

Referring  to  other  outrages,  he  says : 

"This  mode  of  carrying  on  the  war  by  Chili  has  produced  a  strong  feeling  here 
among  all  the  representatives  of  foreign  powers. 


AFFAIRS    IN   PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  51 

"I  shall  readily  join  in  protesting  against  all  such  means  as  are  supported  only  by 
savage  or  semi-barbarous  practices  of  past  ages,  but  condemned  by  the  more  humane 
codes  of  modern  warfare.  Humanity  has  some  rights  even  higher  than  those  of  bel- 
ligerents.' (March  24,  1880,  page  327.) 

"This  is  not  war,  but  deliberate,  wholesale  murder,  unprovoked  by  anything  yet 
done  by  the  allied  forces,  and,  in  the  cause  of  civilization  and  humanity,  calls  for  an 
indignant  protest  from  all  civilized  nations."  (July  5,  1880,  page  330.) 

"  If  Chili  chooses  to  employ  savages  as  soldiers  she  must  be  held  responsible  before 
the  world  for  all  such  excesses  as  would  not  have  been  committed  by  a  civilized  soldiery 
under  proper  discipline."  (February  2,  1881,  page  438.) 

Your  Excellency  sees  for  yourself  in  the  vicinity  of  Lima  the  traces  of  this  barbarous 
warfare. 

It  now  becomes  my  painful  duty  to  call  Your  Excellency's  attention  to  a  fresh  out- 
rage of  this  kind,  which  has  just  been  committed  in  the  province  of  Jauja  by  the 
Chilian  forces  which  are  overrunning  that  territory. 

The  commander  of  those  forces,  whose  name  is  E.  del  Canto,  sent  on  the  6th  of  April 
last  an  artful  communication  to  various  towns  in  that  province,  telling  them  that  the 
Chilian  forces  had  not  come  for  the  purpose  of  making  war  upon  the  poor,  but  upon 
the  rich,  so  as  to  compel  them  to  sue  for  peace.  (Inclosure  No.  1.) 

The  object  of  this  communistic  proclamation  was  to  induce  the  Indians  to  plunder 
the  property  of  the  wealthy  classes  in  order  that  the  Chilian  forces  might  thus  be  sup- 
plied with  beef  cattle.  To  this  wily  missive  intimidation  was  added,  Mr.  del  Canto 
informing  the  Indians  that  he  had  caused  their  principal  men  in  those  districts  to  be 
placed  under  arrest. 

Finding  that  his  insinuations  were  of  no  avail,  del  Canto  proceeded  to  commit  an 
act  of  the  most  barbarous  cruelty.  He  invaded  those  defenseless  villages  with  a  force 
of  two  thousand  men  and  butchered  the  inhabitants,  without  sparing  either  age  or 
sex.  He  drove  those  who  escaped  the  murderous  knife  to  the  mountains,  thus  depriv- 
ing them  of  shelter  and  of  every  means  of  subsistence.  (Inclosure  No.  2.) 

The  inclosed  copies  of  reports  received  by  the  government  will  give  Your  Excellency 
a  fuller  view  of  these  horrors.  These  copies  are  not  authenticated,  because  the  parties 
who  sent  them  feared  the  evils  to  which  they  would  have  been  subjected  if  the  papers 
had  been  intercepted. 

It  seems  scarcely  credible,  the  war  being  de  facto  at  an  end,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  Peru  is  unable  to  continue  it,  aod  in  presence  of  Your  Excellency's  mission  of 
peace,  that  such  acts  of  atrocity  are  possible. 

Your  Excellency  will  observe  that  this  officer,  del  Canto,  molds  the  policy  of  his 
government  in  the  most  inhuman  manner. 

The  revelation  of  such  cruel  proceedings  and  of  such  wicked  purposes  will,  I  hope, 
be  an  additional  incentive  to  Your  Excellency's  government  to  increase  its  laudable  ef- 
forts to  bring  about  a  peace  without  usurpations  on  the  part  of  Chili.  It  is  not  possi- 
ble that  Your  Excellency's  government  should  witness  unmoved  the  execution  of  this 
horrible  design  :  "  Eithe'r  the  conquest  of  a  portion  of  our  territory  or  the  butchery  of 
its  inhabitants."  It  cannot  be  that  these  atrocities  are  to  go  on  year  after  year  before 
the  very  eyes  of  the  United  States  in  spite  of  their  denunciation  by  the  Hon.  Mr. 
Christiancy 

In  the  mean  time  I  likewise  hope  that  Your  Excellency,  with  the  sense  of  justice  which 
characterizes  you,  will  for  the  honor  of  humanity  endeavor,  so  far  as  you  are  able,  to 
put  an  end  to  these  revolting  deeds. 

With  sentiments  of  the  most  distinguished  consideration,  I  am,  &c., 

MO.  ALVAREZ. 


[Inclosure  Xo.  1.] 
No.  108.]  HUANCAYO,  April  6,  1882. 

To  the  chief  of  the  communities  of  Vinoa,  Moya,  Cocra,  Laran,  and  others  on  the  heights  of 

Chongos : 

• 

The  Chilian  forces  have  not  come  to  make  war  upon  or  to  oppress  the  poor.  The 
sole  object  of  their  coming  has  been  to  compel  the  rich  to  sue  for  that  peace  which  is 
s  >  necessary  in  order  that  the  poor  may  be  able  to  pursue  their  labors  without  moles- 
tation. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Chilian  forces  have  been  living  almost  at  the  expense 
of  the  poor,  and  as  the  Government  of  Huancayo  was  badly  disarranged,  the  notables 
have  been  placed  under  arrest. 

What  is  desired  is  that  the  rich  should  give  what  they  ought;  consequently,  tr 
chief  of  the  communities  on  the  other  side  is  requested  to  send  commissioners  to  the 


52  AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 


principal 
been  takt; 


estates  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  beef  cattle,  so  that  those  which  have 
K-en  taken  from  the  poor  may  be  restored  to  them,  and  that  some  may  be  left  for  the 
subsistence  of  the  Chilian  forces. 

The  chief  of  the  communities  is  further  requested  to  inform  his  people  that  they 
may  retire  to  their  villages  with  the  certainty  that  the  Chilian  forces  will  do  them 
BO  harm. 

A  reply  is  requested. 
God  guard  you. 

E.  DEL  CANTO. 


COMMUNICATIONS   FEOM  ME.  WALKEE   ELAINE   TO   THE 
DEPAETMENT  OF  STATE. 

No.  40. 
Mr.  Walker  Elaine  to  Mr.  Blaine. 

Separate.    Un- )  PANAMA,  UNITED  STATES  OF  COLOMBIA, 

numbered.       )  December  12,  1881. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  a  cable  dispatch 
informing  me  that  the  President  has  been  pleased  to  designate  me  as 
charge  d'affaires  in  Chili,  pending  the  arrival  of  a  new  minister  to  till 
the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  death  of  the  late  minister,  General  Kil- 
patrick,  and  stating  that  credentials  and  instructions  were  mailed  from 
Washington  on  Friday  last. 

1  am  also  requested  by  Mr.  Trescot,  envoy  extraordinary,  &c.,  to  ac- 
knowledge to  you  the  receipt  by  him  of  cable  message,  in  which  the 
same  information  is 'given  him,  and  in  which  he  is  requested  to  proceed 
to  Santiago  with  as  little  delay  as  possible. 

We  are  at  present  waiting  at  this  point  until  the  U.  S.  steamer  Lack- 
awanua  shall  be  supplied  with  coal,  and  shall  proceed  with  all  possible 
speed  immediately  thereafter  to  Santiago. 

The  captain  of  the  Lackawanna  to-day  informed  Mr.  Trescot  that 
he  hoped  to  leave  this  port  to-morrow,  or,  at  latest,  on  Wednesday 
next,  and  that  the  voyage  to  Valparaiso  could  not  in  all  probability  be 
made  in  less  than  twenty-five  days,  as  he  would  be  obliged  to  stop  at 
Callao  to  replenish  the  supply  of  coal.  This  calculation  would  indicate 
some  day  between  the  fifth  and  tenth  of  January  next  as  the  probable 
date  of  arrival  in  Santiago. 

Mr.  Trescot  desires  me  to  say  that  he  shall  proceed  with  all  possible 
expedition  to  Chili,  and  that  while  for  the  reason  above  given  he  is  not 
able  to  avoid  putting  in  at  Callao,  he  will  exercise  every  precaution  to 
avoid  embarrassing  the  success  of  his  mission  by  such  action. 

As  it  will  be  impossible  for  the  instructions  forwarded  to  me  from 

the  Department  of  State,  and  without  which  I  cannot  act  as  charge 

d'affaires  at  Santiago,  to  reach  that  city  before  the  tenth  of  January 

next,  I  think  I  can  safely  assure  you  that  I  shall  be  in  Santiago  in  ad- 

tvance  of  my  instructions. 

As  1  am  further  informed  by  your  cable  message  that  the  duties  of 
charge  d'affaires  will  not  prevent  me  from  aiding  Mr.  Trescot  in  the 
special  mission,  I  shall  be  governed  by  his  wishes  and  commands,  unless 
further  instructions  from  the  Department  should  countermand  those 
ssued  to  me  before  my  departure  from  Washington. 
I  am,  sir,  &c., 

WALKEE  BLAINE, 
Third  Assistant  Secretary  of  State. 


AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    A^D    BOLIVIA.  53 

No.  41. 
M  r.  Walker  Elaine  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

j$0  1  1  LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

Santiago  de  Chili,  January  13,  1882. 

SIB  :  I  have  the  honor  to  announce  niy  arrival  at  Valparaiso,  Chili, 
on  Wednesday,  the  4th  instant,  and  at  Santiago  (the  two  days  inter- 
vening having  been  spent  in  Valparaiso)  on  Saturday,  the  7th  of  Jan- 


I  "received  on  Tuesday  evening  a  letter  from  the  Secretary  of  State 
(Mr  Elaine)  instructing  me  to  take  charge  of  this  legation  until  the 
arrival  of  a  new  minister,  and  inclosed  therewith  a  letter  addressed  to 
the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  of  this  republic,  accrediting  me  as  charge 
d'affaires  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States.  The  latter  1  pre- 
sented on  Wednesday  last  (January  11)  to  Senor  Balrnaceda,  secretary 
of  state  for  foreign  affairs  for  this  government,  and  I  have  to-day  been 
verbally  informed  by  Mr.  Balmaceda  that  the  Chilian  Government 
recognizes  me  in  that  capacity. 

When  at  Valparaiso,  Mr.  Foote,  consul  of  the  United  States  at  that 
port,  delivered  to  me  certain  correspondence  addressed  to  General  Kil- 
patrick,  late  United  States  minister  to  Chili,  of  which  he  took  posses- 
sion after  the  death  of  the  latter,  as  well  as  certain  instructions  from 
the  Department  of  State  received  after  the  death  of  General  Kilpatrick. 
I  also  received  from  Mr.  Foote  the  cypher  of  the  Department  of  State, 
belonging  to  this  legation,  for  which  proper  receipt  is  herewith  i 


/ 

'  Upon  arriving  at  Santiago,  Mrs.  Kilpatrick  gave  to  me  the  instruc- 
tions received  bv  her  husband,  as  well  as  the  seal  of  the  legation,  the 
kevs  to  the  rooms  now  occupied  as  such,  and  divers  other  articles,  the 
property  of  the  legation  of  the  United  States  in  Chili.  I  shall  transmit 
by  next  mail  a  full  inventory  of  all  the  property  found  by  me  m  the  le- 
gation of  the  United  States  in  this  city.  . 

?  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  at  this  legation  of  i 
structions  addressed  to  Mr.  Osborn,  numbered  134  and  135.  1  roin  Gen- 
eral Foote,  consul  at  Valparaiso,  I  received  instructions  addressed  by 
the  Department  of  State  to  Mr.  Kilpatrick,  numbered  11,  U.  ,  Id,  14,  ID, 
and  16.  These  instructions  had  not  been  opened  up  to  the  time  c 
arrival,  having  been  received  after  the  death  of  our  late  ^mister.  15y 
the  mail  received  Wednesday  came  Department's  ^tr^tion  No.  17, 
under  cover  to  Mr.  Kilpatrick,  and  received  and  opened  by  me.  From  Mrs. 
Kilpatrick  I  received  Department's  instructions  addressed  to  ^  tr.  Jg£ 
Patrick,  numbered  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  and  9.  It  ^  will  thus  be  seen  that 
instructions  from  the  Department  of  State  to  Mr.  W^k*^^ 
1  and  10  are  missing,  and  in  order  to  render  compete  the^aichiveboi 
the  legation,  I  respectfully  request  to  be  furnished  with  certi 


containing  copies  ot  Mr.  Kilpatrick's  disimtches  to  the 
Department  of  State  I  do  not  find  copy  of  his  dispatch  _  numb, 
I  respectfully  request  to  be  furnished  with   a  c^^/p"io 
that  I  may  cause  it  to  be  transcribed  m  the  records  of  the  leg    10 

I  beg  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Secretary  of  State 
matter.     At  the  time  that  Mr.  Trescot  was  sent  upon  tl 
fiion  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  send  me  with  him,  as  it 
that  it  might  be  necessary  to  conduct  negotiations  i 


AFFAIKS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 

point  at  the  same  time.  Since  my  departure,  the  death  of  Mr  Kilpat- 
rick having  occurred,  the  Department  has  been  pleased  to  direct  me  to 
act  as  charge  ^affaires  until  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Kilpatrick's  successor. 
1  suppose  that  it  is  deemed  inadvisable  to  send  out  a  new  minister  un- 
il  after  the  completion  of  Mr.  Trescot's  special  mission.  Should  such 
be  the  case,  it  would  naturally  happen  that  no  minister  would  arrive 
at  this  place  until  some  two  months  after  the  departure  of  Mr.  Trescot 
I  venture  therefore  to  suggest  to  the  Department  that  I  be  given  per- 
mission, should  no  unforeseen  complication  arise,  to  place  the  archives 
in  the  hands  ot  our  consul  at  Valparaiso,  and  to  return  to  the  United 
states  upon  the  conclusion  of  the  special  mission  of  Mr.  Trescot  I 
cannot  but  think  that  I  can  by  that  time  have  so  far  completed  the 
current  business  of  the  legation  as  to  render  it  practicable  for  me  to  re- 
turn without  endangering  or  delaying  the  affairs  of  the  United  States 
in  this  country,  and  I  do  not  desire  to  be  absent  for  longer  time  than 
shall  be  necessary  from  my  desk  in  the  Department 

In  this  connection  I  beg  to  state  that  I  do  not  desire,  even  if  permis- 
sible, to  receive  compensation  as  charge  d'affaires  of  this  legation  I 
shall  draw  before  my  departure  from  Chili,  for  the  ordinary  disburse- 
ments of  the  legation,  to  be  charged  to  the  account  of  incidental  ex- 
penses, tor  which  an  allowance  is  made  by  the  Department  of  State  at 
the  rate  of  tour  hundred  dollars  per  year. 

Deferring  until  the  departure  of  the  next  mail  a  more  detailed  account 
ot  the  condition  and  business  of  this  legation. 
I  have,  &c., 

WALKER  ELAINE. 


ei 

': 


No.  42. 
Mr.  Walker  Elaine  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

^°-  2-J  .    LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

Santiago  de  Chili,  January  20,  1882. 

Sm  :  Referring  to  Department's  instruction  No.  134,  dated  July  14? 
1881,  and  addressed  to  Mr.  Osborn,  I  beg  to  state  that  on  the  17th  day 
of  September,  1881,  Mr.  John  F.  Van  Ingeu  was  recognized  by  the 
Uhilian  Government  as  consul  at  Talcahuana,  Chili.  I  do  not'  find 
from  the  record  of  dispatches  forwarded  by  Mr.  Kilpatrick  that  the  De- 
partment has  been  so  informed,  and  on  that  account  forward  this  infor- 
mation. 

Referring  to  the  instruction  of  the  Department  numbered  13,  dated 
November  22,  1881,  and  addressed  to  Mr.  Kilpatrick,  but  never  received 
by  him,  I  have  the  honor,  in  accordance  with  the  suggestion  of  said  in- 
struction, to  forward  herewith  a  copy  of  Mr.  Balmaceda's  note  of  Octo- 
ber 8,  1881,  to  Mr.  Kilpatrick,  and  a  translation  of  the  same. 

[  had  hoped  to  be  able  to  forward  by  this  mail,  as  1  indicated  in  my 
•spatch  of  the  13th,  a  full  inventory  of  the  property  of  the  legation  in 
aty,  but  am  unfortunately  obliged  to  postpone  doing  so  until  the 
mail.     It  appears  that  from  the  time  of  his  arrival  at  this  post,  un- 
death,  Mr.  Kilpatrick  was  a  constant  sufferer  from  severe  ill- 
1  owing  to  this  a  large  amount  of  the  current  business  of  the 
f  practically  slight  importance  however,  was  left  undone.    I 
^ied  myself  during  the  past  week  with   this  and  with  aiding 
in  such  manner  as  he  desired,  and  have  not  therefore  been 
inventory. 

\ 


AFFAIRS    IN    PERU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA.  55 

For  the  information  of  the  Department,  I  transmit  by  this  mail  two 
copies  of  the  report  of  the  Chilian  minister  of  foreign  affairs  to  the 
Congress  of  1881.  They  will  be  found  to  contain,  among  other  matters 
of  interest,  a  full  report  of  the  settlement  of  the  boundary  question 
with  the  Argentine  Eepublic,  with  the  correspondence  relating  thereto, 
a  settlement  in  which  our  ministers  here  and  at  Buenos  Ayres  mate- 
rially aided. 

I  have,  &c., 

WALKEK  ELAINE. 


[Inclosure  1  in  No.  2. — Translation.] 
Senor  Balmaceda  to  Mr.  Kilpatrick. 

REPUBLIC  OF  CHILI,  MINISTRY  OF  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS, 

Santiago  de  Chili,  October  8,  1881. 

SIR:  The  newspapers  of  Valparaiso  and  of  this  capital  have  published  the  memoran- 
dum which  Mr.  Hurlbut,  the  minister  of  the  United  States  in  Lima,  on  the  24th  of 
August,  of  this  present  year,  addressed  to  the  chief  of  our  army  of  occupation  in  that 
city,  Rear-Admiral  Lynch.  The  letter  that  your  excellency  knows  of,  and  which  Mr. 
Hurlbut  inclosed  with  the  memorandum,  in  which  said  gentleman  commenced  by  say- 
ing to  Rear-Admiral  Lynch  that  in  the  conversation  referred  to  in  the  memorandum, 
he  did  not  treat  of  diplomatic  business,  has  not  been  published  witli  the  memorandum. 

My  government  has  thought  proper  to  call  your  attention  to  the  irregularity  of  this 
conduct,  attaching  little  importance  to  it  in  reality,  as  it  is  confident  that  the  declara- 
tions contained  in  the  memorandum  are  not  the  expression  of  the  circumspect,  noble, 
and  loyal  policy  which  the  Government  of  the  United  States  has  observed  toward  the 
belligerents  of  the  Pacific. 

The  strange  publicity  given  to  a  document  of  very  little  confidential  importance, 
taking  into  consideration  the  manner  and  circumstances  under  which  it  was  produced, 
obliges  me  to  address  myself  to  you  in  order  to  obtain  an  answer  that  may  officially 
establish  the  truth  and  sincerity  of  the  relations  that  our  respective  governments  so 
worthily  cultivate. 

The  speech  which  Mr.  Hurlbut  made  when  presenting  his  credentials  to  the  govern- 
ment of  Garcia  Calderon,  now  extinct,  the  memorandum  addressed  to  Mr.  Lynch  when  he 
did  not  treat  of  diplomatic  business,  his  well  known  letter  against  Pierola,  to  whom  Mr. 
Christiancy  was  accredited,  and  whose  plenipotentiaries  held  a  conference  in  Arica  m 
the  presence  and  with  the  full  consent  of  the  representatives  of  the  United  States,  may 
produce  deplorable  confusion  and  give  useless  hopes  to  the  enemy  or  stimulate  them 
to  a  resistance  fruitless  for  the  results  of  the  struggle,  and  in  any  case  bloody. 

Chili  provoked  to  war,  the  property  of  its  citizens  confiscated  and  they  inhumanly 
turned  out  of  their  homes,  its  industry  destroyed  by  the  thousands  of  hands  that  have 
left  it,  preferring  to  vindicate  their  rights  and  their  honor  ;  the  very  large  sums  em- 
ployed for  the  maintenance  of  the  struggle;  the  pricless  blood  of  its  sons  spilt;  the  enemy 
routed,  and  on  sea  and  land  reduced  to  absolute  and  radical  impotency,  we  will 
the  war  as  far  as  it  may  be  necessary  to  oblige  the  conquered  to  sign  a  peace ;  and  i 
the  settlement  of  peace,  we  will  go,  exercising  our  sovereignty,  as  far  as  it  may 
be  necessary  to  obtain  the  reparation  due  for  the  evils  produced  by  the  war,  the  1 
security  in  peace,  and  the  permanent  stability  of  the  republic. 

We  will  exercise,  in  all  its  fullness,  the  primitive  right  that  authorises  us  to  fully 
guarantee  our  existence— a  right  continually  confirmed  by  the  practice  of  Luropes 
powers  and  of  the  United  States  themselves— in  America. 

I  am  confident  that  our  rights  as  a  belligerent  will  be  respected  by  the  Unite 
as  much  in  the  future  as  they  have  been  up  to  this  time.  The  conduct  of  its  repm 
atives  in  \rica  and  all  through  the  war,  its  friendly  participation  in  the  t: 
ended  the  question  of  boundary  with  the  Argentine  Republic,  its  worthy  11 
traditions,  and  the  respect  which,  as  a  powerful  nation,  it  owes  especially  to  ir 
ent  and  sovereign  states,  perfectly  assure  me  that  the  United 
performing  its  friendly  acts  if  it  wishes,  but  will  always  remain  friendly 
-the  obstinate  war  that  we  are  sustaining  with  our  enemies  of  t 

Since  motives  foreign  to  the  will  of  my  government  have  created 
a  state  of  uncertainty  that  may  be  misunderstood,  and  therefore  occasr 
able  incidents  in  the  difficult  circumstances  that  the  state  ot  war 
the  belligerents,  I  hope  from  your  excellency  the  assurance  ti  iat,  ir 
your  instructions,  you  can  give  to  my  government  about  the  i 


56 


AFFAIRS    IN    PEEU,    CHILI,    AND    BOLIVIA. 


J.  M.  BALMACEDA. 


No.  43. 
1/r.  WflYter  Elaine  to  Mr.  FrelmgUmjsen. 

LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

Vina  del  Mar,  Chili,  February  3.  1882. . 

SIR:  Referring  to  Department's  instructions  numbered  15  and  17,  ad- 
dressed to  Mr.  Kilpatrick,  I  have  *he  honor  to  inform  you  that  in  ac- 
ordance  with  the  permission  given  in  a  letter  received  from  Mr.  Tres- 


.- 7 .,    -,»,»»»  j  vigu    oiiiaiiLSj  vviLii    iYJLl.     _LTt5SeOt.  ai 

with  the  latter's  permission,   accompanied  him  to  Mr.  Balmaceda  oik 
Tuesday  last,  the  31st  ultimo. 

After  some  remarks  upon  other  topics  by  Mr.  Balmaceda,  Mr.  Tres- 
cot  stated  to  him  the  object  for  which  I  had  come,  saying  to  him  : 

You  are  doubtless  aware,  sir,  of  the  friendly  interest  which  the  United  States  has 
lor  some  tune  manifested  in  endeavoring  to  procure  a  concerted  system  of  action  011 
the  part  of  the  powers  of  the  western  continent  which  might  lead  to  some  united  pol- 
icy on  their  part  tending  to  the  perpetuation  of  peace,  the  avoidance  of  international 
wars,  and  possibly  the  settlement  of  disputed  points  by  arbitration.  During  the  past 
year  the  United  States  has  been  appealed  to  by  Guatemala  to  exert  its  good  offices  m 
settling  the  question  of  butiLdary  existing  between  Guatemala  and  the  neighboring  Re- 
public oi  Mexico ;  it  has  been  requested  by  Venezuela  to  assist  her  in  regnlatino-  the- 
question  of  her  debt  to  foreign  countries,  and  1  venture  to  also  call  to  your  recollec- 
tion the  happy  influence  exerted  by  our  ministers  to  Chili  and  to  the  Argentine  Re- ' 
public  m  aiding  the  two  governments  to  harmoniously  decide  a  question  of  boundarv  ' 
which  seemed,  at  one  time,  to  threaten  serious  consequences.  I  mention  these  facts 
us  showing  the  spirit  in  which  the  United  States  proffers  the  invitation,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  presenting  which  on  the  part  of  his  government  Mr.  Elaine  has  accompanied 
rue  this  morning.  The  invitation  is  dated  in  November,  1881,  and  the.  date  of  the  con- 
gress is  fixed  for  November  of  the  present  year.  I  desired,  however, 'before  permitting 
le  presentation  of  the  invitation  to  Chili,  to  make  sure  that  the  invitations  to  Bolivia 
u"  ,Tve  Presented  to  those  governments  at  the  same  time,  as,  if  such  an  invita- 
I  be  presented  to  one  government  and  not  toeither  of  the  others,  such  a  fact 
might,  m  the  present  condition  of  affairs  between  the  three  republics,  lead  to  misun- 
derstanding. The  letter  addressed  to  General  Adams,  instructing  him  to  invite  the 


now  be  given  to  your  gov- 
ernment. That  the  proposed  congress  has  no  bearing  upon  the  question  of  ex  is*' hi  <r 
hostilities  you  will  see  when  Mr.  Elaine  shall  have  read  to  you  the  invitation. 

^    To  this  Mr.  Balmaceda  replied  : 

^  u.  subject  of  a  conference  of  American  nations,  both  including  and  without  the 

maJj**88*  ll.as  keen  brought  to  the  attention  of  my  government  by  the  United 

(|    'olornbia  some  time  since,  and  on  other  occasions.     My  government  has  never 

H  as  to  what  course  it  would  pursue  with  reference  to  such  matters,  and  I 

i   v  any  answer  without  first  consulting  my  government.     May  I  ask  what 

of  vpose  of  this  congress, 

.  Trescot  replied  that  no  answer  would  at  this  time  be  ex- 
1  SB  Government  of  Chili  that  I  was  prepared  to  leave  a 
Nation  ;  that  the  government  might  take  the  question. 


